A post-mortem conducted on the body of the late Sylvia Kemunto, a student at Multimedia University, has revealed that she was strangled to death.
An autopsy conducted by Government pathologist Johansen Oduor showed that the first-year student at Multimedia University (MMU) struggled with her attacker as she sought to defend herself.
“We saw injuries on the neck, which are typical of people who have been strangled. This indicates that the victim was deprived of oxygen at the time of death. Based on these findings, we concluded that the cause of Sylvia’s death was strangulation,” said Oduor.
The murder case has sent shockwaves across the nation. Eric Mutinda, the suspected murderer and also a first-year student at the same university, provided detectives with chilling details of the events leading to the murder and his subsequent arrest.
On the 28th, Eric Mutinda told the police that he visited his sister, Miriam Waweru, in Kasarani. He stayed there until Sunday, when they organized a hiking event at Ololua. During his visit, Miriam gave him rice to deliver to a family member. Eric later met a woman at Kencom in town before proceeding to Multimedia University (MMU). It is reported that Mutinda arrived on campus at approximately 12 PM, where he interacted with his two roommates and requested a chest bag that would be used for the planned hiking trip to Ololua.
According to a report seen by Citizen TV, Eric visited Sylvia to retrieve the chest bag, only to find her busy washing clothes. Reports state that Eric attempted to reconcile and salvage their strained relationship, but Sylvia declined, and the situation escalated. Sylvia allegedly provoked Eric, leading to a violent altercation. It is alleged that at this point, Eric pushed Sylvia onto the bed and strangled her with a rope from a hoodie. What followed was an unimaginable act—Eric placed Sylvia’s lifeless body in a suitcase and transported it to his room.
He covered the body with a blanket, left for a walk, and returned approximately 40 minutes later. Despite the grim reality, Eric reportedly carried on with his day without informing anyone.
That night, Eric moved Sylvia’s body back into the suitcase and slept. In the early morning of the 31st, around 4 AM, Eric reportedly transferred Sylvia’s body to a tank.
Eric then removed Sylvia’s SIM card from her phone, discarded it within the Multimedia University compound, but retained the phone. Disturbingly, he later visited a church, “Jesus is Alive Ministry,” and gave Sylvia’s phone as an offering. Investigators have since recovered the phone, marking a crucial breakthrough in the case.
Eric reportedly traveled home before confessing to his family after watching coverage of the incident on Citizen TV. His parents escorted him to Sultan Hamud Police Station, where he surrendered.
Eric Mutinda is now in custody at Capital Hill Police Station as investigations continue.
