State Police in Connecticut in the United States foiled what is believed to be attempted murder of a witness in a case involving Leonard Mwithiga – a Kenyan man, and a woman.
According to reports in the US, Police in the State arrested Mwithiga after getting wind of his intentions to hire a hitman for the job.
The suspect, 52, had reportedly opened up about his court battles with his wife and that he was looking for a way to ‘silence her’.
Mwithiga and his former family have been in a protracted court battle regarding custody and the murder, according to the State Police, was meant to stop the witness from testifying in an upcoming proceeding.
Police first learnt about the intentions after one of Mwithiga’s employees reported that his boss tasked him to find a hitman.
Subsequently, a police officer posing as a hitman approached the suspect to lay the trap that finally caught him.
At the time, the suspect offered to give the hitman Ksh610,000 for the job according to the police reports.
Leornard Mwithiga offers Ksh46K to cop
He, however, gave the undercover police some $300 in good faith before his plan was foiled.
Later, according to the Connecticut Police, it emerged that Leonard Mwithiga had even discussed various possible ways of killing the woman.
Among the ways mentioned in the conversation that gave him up was a slow poison that would see the woman die in a slow death akin to the way cancer would kill a patient.
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“It was determined that there is a current court proceeding involving the accused and the victim in which the execution of this murder-for-hire plot would render the victim unable to testify in such proceeding,” Connecticut State Police said in a statement.
As per the police, Mwithiga had reportedly suggested January 2024 as the tentative date for the execution of the plan since as he planned to have traveled back to Kenya by then.
This way, the suspect imagined that it would have been difficult to link him to such a death if it had occurred.
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Leonard Mwithiga was later arrested and held pending his arraignment to face charges including attempted murder for hire and intimidating a witness in the case.
About Leonard Mwithiga
Mwithiga is a former executive at the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) where he served as the Group Shared Services Director.
He had also served in other banks in Kenya in his career spanning over 15 years including as the General Manager, Group Shared Services at Equity Bank.
His case now adds to the list of crime cases involving Kenyans in the United States.
In November, a Kenyan woman, Margaret Mbitu, was found dead in a suspected murder case involving another Kenyan man.
