Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested Ken Kimanthi Gichunuku, alias “Sultan,” the prime suspect in the brutal murder of 23-year-old university graduate Seth Nyakio Njeri, more than a year after the crime shocked the country.
According to police, Gichunuku was tracked down and arrested on Saturday in Busia town near the Kenya–Uganda border, where he had been hiding while working at a cereal distribution shop. He is currently in custody as detectives finalize investigations ahead of his arraignment in court.
Nyakio was murdered in October 2024, with her body later discovered inside a rented apartment in Biafra, Thika, Kiambu County. At the time, she had been reported missing by her mother, Lucy Njeri, after failing to return home and her phone went unanswered for hours.
Ms. Njeri told investigators that her daughter, her only child, had left their Kamakis home to visit a female friend but never returned. Despite filing a missing person report, the search yielded no results until a friend alerted the family that Nyakio had been found dead inside a house believed to belong to Gichunuku.
Police investigations revealed that Nyakio’s body had visible injuries, and forensic findings confirmed she was sexually assaulted before being strangled to death. Detectives immediately launched a manhunt for her jilted ex-boyfriend, whom they believed committed the crime after she rejected his advances.
Nyakio was laid to rest at Lang’ata Cemetery on October 30, 2024, as public pressure mounted for justice.
DCI officers say the arrest marks a major breakthrough in the case, ending months of pursuit and bringing renewed hope for accountability in a crime that deeply disturbed Kenyans.
