22-year-old Lawrence Warunge, who is the prime suspect in the killing of five people including his four family members, has been charged with five counts of murder.
Warunge appeared before Justice Mary Kasango on Thursday where he pleaded not guilty to charges of killing his father Nicholas Njoroge Warunge, mother Anne Wanjiku, brother Christian Njenga, nephew Maxwell Njenga and the family’s casual laborer James Kinyanjui.
The suspect is accused of murdering the five on the night of January 5th, 2021 at their home in Karura area in Kiambaa, Kiambu County.
Justice Kasango directed that the suspect be remanded at Nairobi Industrial Area Prison until May 11th when the pre-trial hearing will be held.
His arraignment came after a report by Mathari Mental Hospital confirmed that he is mentally stable and fit to stand murder trial.
In January, a Kiambu court ruled that Warunge was unfit to stand trial and ordered he be remanded pending further mental assessment.
Warunge, a student at Mt. Kenya University, has been in custody since his arrest in January in connection with the macabre killings.
Njoroge, who worked in the US as a nurse, met his death weeks after returning to the country to spend Christmas with his family.
Following his arrest, Warunge reportedly led police to Mai Mahiu where he had disposed of the murder weapons and the clothes he wore during the massacre.
He allegedly told detectives that he researched on the internet the best way to eliminate his victims, adding that he was motivated by Villanelle, a psychopathic killer in the British show “Killing Eve”. He accused members of his family of talking ill of him behind his back.
Young idiot, u decided to…
Young idiot, u decided to kill ur parents, good for u, but ur such a ngombe to not have thought of an escape plan or even benefited from it financially. 21yrs old heading to life in prison, what an idiot u r. Well now that ur gone can u send us ur girlfriends number as she is single now n she don’t need u.