Man who used his dead friend’s phone to extort money from relatives now linked to his murder

The man who cloned his dead friend’s phone number and used it to extort his family in the United States without informing them that he had died will spend the next 21 days in custody as police now suspect he was involved in the murder.

Stephen Njomo cloned Victor Kiragu’s phone number after his death at the beginning of December and used it to get money from his relatives for a whole month while his friend was lying at the Kenyatta National Hospital Mortuary. The story was first revealed courtesy of an investigation by sauce.co.ke

Njomo was arrested on January 13 by detectives from the Kasarani Police Station and presented to court yesterday. According to court documents, he is said to have contacted Jane Nduta, the late friend’s mother, as well as Everlyne Wakio, the deceased’s close friend.

“We have received WhatsApp chat printouts from the deceased family members and friends indicating how he was impersonating the deceased and extorting money from them,” reads court papers.

The family filed a missing person report at a Kahawa West Police station on January 4. They later discovered Kiragu’s body at the KNH mortuary a few days later on January 10, labelled as an unknown African male.

Police officers investigating the case have three weeks to complete their investigation and charge whoever is responsible for Kiragu’s death. Police say they will use that time to recover the deceased man’s mobile phone from the suspect.

The police also are seeking to establish the nature of the treatment and injuries the deceased suffered. The family will also obtain communication data of the deceased and the suspect from the respective telecommunications service providers which is necessary for investigations.