Former TV personality and the host of The Jacque Maribe Show has teased a return to media production after a long hiatus.
Elaborating on what to expect from the new productions Maribe said that the new show will be similar to an earlier show where she conducted interviews with notable dignitaries such as Defence CS Aden Duale and Members of Parliament.
Posting a cryptic message on IG, Maribe said, “1st September 2022, I chose to only do stories here on IG…well, shouldn’t that change now on 1st September 2023?”
Alluding to her five-year absence from Kenyan TV screens, she said that the sabbatical had finally come to an end.
“The sabbatical ends. Loading,” she finished.
Maribe left Citizen TV after being charged alongside her former boyfriend Joseph Irungu alias Jowie – who is the primary suspect in the murder.
Apart from politicians, she has also hosted policymakers such as Ezekiel Mutua.
On September 19, 2018, businesswoman Monica Kimani arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from her business trip to South Sudan.
From the airport, Kimani boarded a taxi to her apartment at Lamuria Gardens in Kilimani, Nairobi, to spend the night.
Her younger brother George Kimani testified that she promised to meet the family the following day before flying out to Dubai to meet her Sudanese boyfriend.
It was supposed to be a short, happy family reunion but it never came to pass.
She was found murdered the following morning with her throat slit and the body dumped in the bathtub with the water running.
Four and a half years after her death, journalist Jacqueline Maribe and ex-boyfriend Joseph Irungu alias Jowie are on the verge of paying the ultimate price for the offence.
The two were found with a case to answer and put on their defence over Monica’s murder.
“I have had the benefit of going through the evidence and submissions and the court is satisfied that the prosecution has established a prima facie case to place each of the accused persons on their defence,” ruled Justice Grace Nzioka on Wednesday.
The prosecution, through Wangui Gichui, presented 35 witnesses, some of who were under witness protection, and several pieces of documentary evidence to prove the case against Jowie and Maribe who at the time were living as a couple at Royal Park Estate in Lang’ata.
Their case was that Jowie was the principal offender while Maribe was an accomplice who knew everything that happened but engaged in a cover-up.
Lead investigator officer Maxwell Otieno in his bid to recreate Monica’s last moments and trace Jowie’s movements before he allegedly murdered the businesswoman took the court on a site visit with key details of what transpired.
“It was a well-executed plan where the accused person stole an identity card at their Royal Park Estate residence and used it to access Lamuria Gardens where he committed the murder, went back and burnt the clothes and borrowed a gun to shoot himself,” Otieno told the court.
According to the investigator, Jowie’s movement started at Road House Grill in Kilimani where he spent the evening on September 19, 2018, drinking with friends.
He is said to have arrived at the restaurant at around 6pm using Maribe’s car while in the company of two friends.
At around 8pm he left the venue for Lenana Road where he took a taxi to Monica’s house at Lamuria Gardens, which he accessed using a stolen ID card and went to House Number 8 on Block A where Monica stayed.
Stolen ID
The owner of the stolen ID, Dominic Hosea, told the court that he had gone to work at Royal Park Estate where Jowie and Maribe were staying and left his ID at the gate before it was stolen.
A protected witness had also told the court that Jowie presented the stolen ID at the gate of Lamuria Gardens in order to access Monica’s house.
While inside the house, the prosecution called Lee Omondi who identified Jowie as the last person with Monica before she was found murdered.
According to the witness, he visited Monica’s house on the night of her arrival from South Sudan and found her in the company of two men, Jowie and another man called Walid.
“After about one and a half hours, Walid left and I also excused myself. I thought it best to leave Jowie and Monica to themselves since he looked like he was familiar with the house and someone who knew the place,” the witness said.
According to the prosecution, no one knows what happened after Omondi left Jowie and Monica since she was found dead the next morning.
The apartment’s caretaker Reagan Buluku testified that he could not withstand the gory scene as Monica’s body lay lifeless in her bathroom, with both legs and hands tied and blood flowing from her slit throat.
“I was so shocked when I saw how she was slaughtered. I could not withstand the sight and rushed back to her sitting room. There was blood on her neck…,” said Buluku.
His testimony was backed by police investigator Jennifer Jepkosgei who presented to the court images of the scene.
She produced photos of the woman in the bathroom, her hands tied and a masking tape on her mouth. There was also blood splattered on the kitchen floor.
Dr Peter Ndegwa who performed the post-mortem testified that Monica did not die from natural causes since the death was caused by excessive bleeding due to a severe neck injury.
The prosecution also presented to court Maribe’s car movement on the night where chief inspector Fredrick Michuki testified that it was captured in Kilimani from Ngong Road towards Yaya Centre.
It was captured again along Mbagathi Road and State House Road near the University of Nairobi towards Uhuru Highway then Westlands before it was seen heading to Lang’ata Road.
The lead investigator, chief inspector Otieno, had testified that Jowie had joined Maribe at a club in Westlands after allegedly committing the murder, before going home together where they hatched a plan to cover up the crime.
He took the judge on a site visit to Maribe’s house at Royal Park Estate where he said Jowie borrowed a pistol from neighbour Brian Kasaine and shot himself in the shoulder before going back to the neighbour to seek help.
Cover-up?
According to the investigator, they were able to trace the hole in the wall where the bullet had hit which Jowie and Maribe tried to coverusing some powder.
“At one point during our investigations, Maribe admitted that Jowie had shot himself but when we asked her about the bullet head, she told us that she had thrown it into the toilet and flashed it,” said Otieno.
He said after the self-shooting incident, there was a serious disagreement between Jowie and Maribe after which he threatened the former journalist.
Otieno also showed the court the exact location outside the building where Jowie is said to have burnt his blood-stained clothes to destroy evidence.
On September 20, 2018, after the murder, Dr Lawrence Obonyo testified that Jowie walked into Nairobi West Hospital in the middle of the night claiming he had been shot by thugs on the left shoulder.
But the prosecution presented evidence to prove that the gunshot was self-inflicted.
Gichuhi, while closing the prosecution’s case, said Jowie and Maribe had a common intention to kill Monica and later engaged in an elaborate plan to cover up the murder.
She said both direct and circumstantial evidence in which Jowie allegedly stole an ID card to access Monica’s house showed they planned the killing with Maribe who was waiting for him to accomplish the task before they go home.
Gichuhi said Maribe was aware of the killing by giving him her vehicle to use in the murder before trying to conceal the murder by lying to the police and destroying evidence.
According to the prosecution, Maribe conspired with Jowie to create a false narrative that they had been attacked by robbers while entering their house at Royal Park Estate in Lang’ata when Jowie had shot himself.
“At no point did she provide information to police about the murder, only to be seen on Citizen TV the following day announcing the death of Monica when she was fully aware of what had happened,” said Gichuhi.
Phone data
Gichuhi added that the report from the government chemist proved that Monica’s blood was found in Jowie’s clothes and that his phone call data placed him at the scene of the murder.
But Jowie and Maribe maintained their innocence, saying Monica could have been killed by an unknown man who was in her house that night.
Jowie’s lawyer Hassan Nandwa said the prosecution is wrong to say he killed Monica merely because he was the last person seen with her.
Justice Nzioka confirmed that the prosecution had proved the case and it was now Jowie and Maribe’s turn to tell their side of the story and defend themselves.
Jowie said he will give a sworn statement and call one witness while Maribe said she will call six witnesses to defend her. In the event that they fail to successfully defend themselves, the former lovers could be sentenced to death being the maximum penalty for murder. Justice Nzioka scheduled May 11 and 12 for the defence hearing.
The events in Monica Kimani murder case have taken another twist with the involvement of President Uhuru’s cousin John ‘MO’ Muhoho, a week before the Court set date for trial.
Brian kasaine’s statement has revealed details showing why police believe that Joseph ‘Jowie’ Kuria and his then-fiancee, TV Journalist Jacque Maribe murdered Monica.
Kasaine had been arrested and then released in connection with the murder, recorded his statement with the DCI giving out further detailed activities of Jowie on the night of the killing happened and the following day.
DCI’s lead investigator Maxwell Otieno, statement has outlined events that could have led to the murder of Monica Kimani.
“Our investigations established that both the accused persons were directly responsible for the death of the deceased Monica Nyawira,” reads the conclusion of his statement.
The two statements on our desk are part of the Prosecution documents that will be used on Tuesday’s trial.
Monica Nyawira Kimani was murdered in her apartment on the night of September 19, 2018.
Kasaine’s Statement with the police indicates that he, Kasaine, had given Jowie the gun because he knew him as an undercover cop.
The said gun is the one that Jowie shot himself with.
Kasaine narrated the happenings of September 20, 2018, the day the police believe Jowie tried to destroy evidence.
Kasaine told the Police that he received a WhatsApp call from Jowie at around 2am seeking to know if he had “paraffin or anything flammable or air freshener in the house.”
“I got surprised at such request of these items by himat such late hour,” Kasaine’s statement reads.
Kasaine also told the Police that he met Jowie at 3pm on the very day, at Maribe’s House.
“I wanted to borrow their car keys so that I could use it to go and pick up my son from school. He was wearing a white vest, grey sweat pants. He was in deep thought and distracted,” Reads Kasaine’s statement.
Kasaine said he “jokingly” asked Jowie why he was looking for paraffin in the middle of the night.
“He replied, ‘tulikuwa job fulani na Mo-Muhoho na nikama alidunga mtu kisu’ (I was with Mo-Muhoho yesterday for an assignment and he stabbed somebody,” Reads Kasaine’s statement.
“When Jowie told me as follows, ‘tulikuwa job Fulani na Mo-Muhoho na nikama alidunga mtu kisu’ – he was referring to John Muhoho who is a close friend of his,” Kasaine clarified to the Police.
John Muhoho is the son of former KAA chairman and Mama Ngina’s brother George Muhoho.
John Muhoho, President Uhuru’s cousin has been a very close and social friend to both Jowie and Maribe
These photos on Instagram proofs right the statement.
Instagram post of a Picture of John Mo, Jowie and Maribe courtesy of Urbannews254/pageA file photo of John Muhoho and Jacqueline Maribe
John Muhoho is not only an Instagram rich kid but also a very private member of the wider Kenyatta family that had maintained a clean on and offline existence till this Statement surfaced.
John Muhoho is alleged to have spent sh1.6 million at the 1824 launch party.
The two, John and Maribe, have also been spotted in all the major Jubilee party rallies
Louis Mdudu selfie with Maribe and Muhoho
Jowie, John and Maribe have been close friends enough to an extent that Muhoho has been to couple of Maribe’s birthday parties and other celebrations.
John Mo with Jacque Maribe on her last birthday Photo/Courtesy/
John Muhoho and Maribe pictured post courtesy of Instagram
Kasaine told the Police that Jowie told him that he wanted to burn some stuff and had used some air freshener “while pointing towards the empty plot across their house.”
DCI’s lead investigator Maxwell Otieno gave 12 reasons why he concludes that Jowie was directly involved in the murder.
Mr Otieno also highlighted five reasons on why Maribe should be charged.
According to DCI’s Otieno reveals that tests by the Government Chemist in a report reference A 199/2018 dated December 13, 2018, confirmed that DNA profile generated from a short Jowie wore on the day of the murder marched that generated from Monica’s blood sample.
“After the commission of the crime, the accused person burnt the clothes he was wearing at the scene of crime at the second accused residence in her presence,” Reads part of Otieno’s statement.
Daboul Walid and Owen Omondi
Who are both witnesses in the case placed Jowie in Monica’s house and two of them said they left Jowie in the house on that day.
Another revelation in the case has that Jowie changed into a different set of clothes before he went to see Monica in her house.
“The accused changed and dressed in a white kanzu, grey
coat and red cap in the immediate presence of Jennings Olando (a Recce squad officer who also had been arrested during investigations). These were the same clothes that he was putting on while at the residence of the deceased on a fateful day as confirmed by Owen, Walid and guards at the Lamuria gardens apartments,” Otieno’s statement reads.
Jowie was in the same red cap at Club 40 Forty on the night of the murder and witnesses say he had the same red cap at Monica’s house.
“After the commission of the crime, the accused person burnt the clothes he was wearing at the scene of crime at the second accused residence in her presence. “ Said DCI detective Maxwell Otieno.
Kasaine said that Monica introduced Jowie to Walid and Owen as someone who works with the Interpol when they sat in her house.
He indicates that Jowie at one time commented on the live news that “They (Interpol) him included had arrested 19 terrorists in Lamu who were to be ferried to Nairobi for deportation.”
Investigations revealed that Jowie claimed to be wearing a kanzu to enable him “blend with the Somali community since he alleged that he resides in Eastleigh.”
“When Owen said that he desired a firearm for protection purposes, the 1st accused offered that he was going to assist him to acquire one either through the legal or illegal process,” Otieno’s statement says.
“Owen confirmed that while in the deceased house, Jowie received several phone calls whereby he would move aside and speak in coded language over the phone.”
Otieno’s statement reveals that a gardener accessed Monica’s house through a window and found her in a bathtub.
The Gardener got out and informed Monica’s brother who was waiting outside her house and this is when they broke the door before calling the Police.
The Police believed that Jowie murdered Monica because he had informed Jennings of who he was going to see.
“He informed Jennings Olando whom he was with that he was going to visit a lady friend who had just arrived from South Sudan,” Otieno’s statement reads.
Otieno’s Statement says that on September 19, 2018, Monica flew from Juba and landed at JKIA at around 5.30pm.
Investigations into the murder have revealed that Maribe’s car was at the scene of the crime and she was seen in it on the later that very night.
“The accused person witnessed the burning of the clothes by the first accused on the night of the incident near her residence,” This is the second supporting evidence.
Maribe’s phone was also within the same area of the incident and before being switched off at about 10.25pm and switched on at around 9:52 am the same day.
The Police autopsy records indicate that Monica died at around the same time Maribe’s phone went off.
“Considering the above, it is evident that the accused persons jointly murdered the deceased,” Otieno’s statement reads.
Maribe’s contradicting statements on how Jowie had sustained his gunshot injury also depicts her as “dishonest”
Her alibis on the murder date are also not believable.
Maribe was also spotted with Jowie at Club 40 Forty almost immediately after the murder and was spotted too near the scene of the crime.
Kasaine also narrated the events of the night of September 21, 2018, when he found Jowie bleeding at his gate.
“He was shouting at his fiancee Jacqueline Maribe immediately he saw her there saying ‘you want me out of your house, it is fine, bury me in Lang’ata’ then went quiet. Jacqueline didn’t answer him,” reads Kasaine’s statement.
Kasaine told the Police that Maribe told him that Jowie shot himself when he, Jowie, told Kasaine to secure the weapon.
According to Kasaine, Jowie couldn’t be admitted to Lang’ata Hospital and Nairobi West Hospital without a deposit of Sh50,000.
Jowie passed by the Lang’ata police station the following evening and reported the matter as a shooting incident then later went to Lang’ata Hospital for gun wound dressing.
Kasaine said that Jowie had been advised to do so by someone he, Jowie, didn’t name.
