The Latest on Lawrence Warunge Murder Trial
Having been found fit to stand trial, Lawrence Warunge was Thursday officially charged with five counts of murder.
The 22-year-old university student appeared virtually before Justice Mary Kasanga where he was charged with killing his father Nicholas Warunge, mother Anne Warunge, brother Christian Njenga, nephew Maxwell Njenga and construction worker James Kinyanjui on the night of January 5-6, 2021.
Warunge entered a not guilty plea. He was set to take plea on Wednesday, but it was pushed to Thursday to allow the prosecution to complete a miscellaneous application that had been filed at the Kiambu Law Courts.
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Murder suspect: Lawrence Warunge at a Kiambu court during a mention. [George Njunge, Standard]
Lawrence Warunge, the 22-year-old suspect in the murder that wiped a Limuru family in January is expected in court today to answer murder charges.
Warunge has confessed to killing his father, mother, brother, cousin and a worker employed by his family.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) confirmed yesterday that Warunge is fit to stand trial.
“This follows a psychiatric report released by Mathari Mental Hospital, confirming that the 22-year-old can now answer to his crimes,” DCI tweeted.
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On January 6, the bodies of five family members and a construction worker were found brutally murdered at their home in Kagongo, Kiambu County.
Murder suspect in wiped out Limuru family Lawrence Warunge in court today standardmedia.co.ke - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from standardmedia.co.ke Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
THE STANDARD By
George Njunge |
January 27th 2021 at 00:00:00 GMT +0300
Lawrence Warunge at a Kiambu court during a mention to submit his mental fitness. The court was told that Warunge was unfit to stand trial. [George Njunge, Standard]
Lawrence Warunge, the chief suspect in the murder of his parents and siblings, is not fit to stand trial.
A medical assessment done at Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital shows that Lawrence suffers from induced psychosis, a condition characterised by hallucinations and/or delusions.
It further states that he has a history of smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.
The prosecution tabled the report yesterday before Kiambu Chief Magistrate Patricia Gichohi and made an application for extension of custodial orders, which the Chief Magistrate granted.