Murder case of the Meru blogger, Sniper, clarified by the ODPP

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) provided more details regarding the murder case of the Meru blogger Daniel Muthiani Bernard, also known as Sniper.

Meru blogger SRC: @Twitter — *ODPP Renson Ingonga during his swearing-in SRC: @Twitter*

In response to accusations of inaction, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) denied that it failed to advise the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on what actions to take following the arrest of a suspect in the murder.

ODPP Renson Ingonga clarifies the murder case of the Meru blogger

According to the ODPP’s statement, the suspect in the case—who goes by the alias Supuu wa Mioro—was detained on suspicion of kidnapping. The ODPP further clarified that since the kidnapped blogger remained unaccounted for while the investigations were ongoing, the DCI, acting through the ODPP’s office, requested custodial orders to detain the suspect.

The suspect was however released on a Ksh 20,000 cash bond, according to the ODPP, and the case is scheduled to be mentioned on January 5, 2024.

“The Chief Magistrate’s court in Maua, Meru County declined to grant custodial orders as sought by the DCI through the ODPP but instead granted the suspect a cash bail of Ksh 20,000.00 and ordered the suspect to report to the police station every 14 days. The court also set the application for mention on 5 January 2024”, read the ODPP’s statement.

“Following the recovery of the body of the abducted person, the ODPP directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to undertake investigations for the offence of murder and submit the resultant inquiry file for perusal and further directions. The ODPP has not received the inquiry file into the offence of murder to date”, read another statement.

Dennis Itumbi’s reaction

Dennis Itumbi, a digital strategist, presented documentation on Tuesday to support his claim that the ODPP had neglected to give the DCI in Meru instructions regarding the case’s investigations.

According to case details, Daniel Muthiani called the primary suspect on December 2 before going missing. Reports reveal that the suspect was going to set up a meeting with a powerful politician to discuss remarks he had made about them on social media. After the blogger was found dead, the chief government pathologist’s post-mortem report showed that he had been tortured before being strangled to death.

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