The main suspect in the Roysambu murder of a middle-aged lady was unmasked after detectives obtained CCTV footage from a nearby stall.
The footage shared by Citizen TV on Monday, January 15, showed a man of a lighter skin tone entering a grocery shop in the area while making a phone call.
At the time, the man believed to have been behind the murder was dressed in white cap, glasses, and a blue shirt, matching the description given earlier by the manager of the apartment where the gruesome murder happened.
The footage with a timestamp of January 13, at 1620hrs showed the man approach the shopkeeper and handed a phone to him.
Seconds later, the shopkeeper returned the phone to the suspect and handed him a key.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) analyzed the footage after hours of combing through apartments and premises surrounding the crime scene in a bid to unmask the suspect.
Several people connected to the Airbnb saga were identified for interrogation as the detectives labored to get to the bottom of yet another shocking case of murder.
Police investigate Roysambu murder
According to a prior police report, the management of the apartment where the lady was murdered discovered her dismembered body after a routine check on Sunday, January 14 morning.
As per the report, the middle-aged man had checked into the room on Saturday evening.
On Sunday, the caretaker asked one of the staff in the apartment to confirm whether the man had checked out of the room, only to find a clean house with no response.
But upon keen observation, the apartment’s management noticed blood stains which led them to the dismembered body of a young lady.
Also Read: House Manager Narrates Last Moments of Woman Murdered in Roysambu
Detectives from Kasarani Police Station swung into action, conducting a forensic analysis of the scene before evacuating the body to the Nairobi City Funeral Home.
The gruesome murder added to the list of crimes reported in Airbnb or accommodation rooms in the country which have lately been on the rise.
New Airbnb rules
In response to the alarming rate of crime in accommodation rooms, the government through the Private Security Regulatory Authority (PSRA) published a list of new guidelines to ensure accountability.
According to the regulations released by the Faizul Mohamed-led authority, occupants of accommodation rooms will henceforth be required to surrender identification details to the relevant security personnel manning the premises.
Also Read: Another Woman Found Dead in Suspected Airbnb Murder
The security personnel will also be required to record the time a person checks in and the time that person exits the property for accountability.
Further, the regulations require private security providers to record log of all vehicles, motorcycles, and rickshaws entering and leaving the building.
Meanwhile, the DCI was yet to issue a comprehensive statement of the Roysambu murder case even as questions regarding the motive and the identity of the culprits continue to surface.
At the same time, the family of the deceased also identified the body of their loved one at the City Mortuary but declined to address the media.
