Citizen TV celebrity anchor Jacque Maribe may not be charged but might become a prosecution witness against her fiance, Joseph Irungu, alias Jowie.
This is because she has recanted her earlier statement to police explaining how Irungu was shot. Irungu is the prime suspect in the murder of businesswoman Monica Nyawira in Kilimani. He denies wrongdoing.
With the retraction, Maribe may now testify against Irungu who faces charges of murder and attempted suicide.
Maribe is still locked up in a cell after a Kiambu court on Monday allowed police to hold her for 10 days. In the new statement, she has detailed how Irungu attempted to commit suicide at their Royal Park estate home in Lang’ata. He shot himself in the chest, she said.
Maribe demolished the explanation by Irungu that he was shot by criminals on a motorbike, while the two were driving home on the night of September 20.
Earlier, in a self-recorded statement, which was presented to Kilimani DCI officers, Maribe detailed how she and her fiance were trailed by gunmen, whom she accused of shooting Irungu.
A similar report had been filed at the Lang’ata police station by Maribe and Irungu, blaming the motorbike criminals for the shooting.
Maribe first appeared before Kilimani DCI chief Fatuma Hadi on September 27 in the company of her father. She was interrogated by the DCI chief for close to two hours and directed to report to the DCI homicide investigators who have taken up the probe.
Last Friday, hours before DCI chief George Kinoti ordered Maribe’s arrest, she changed her story and presented to investigators her second account, which police now consider to be most credible.
“The investigators received her self-recorded statement, which they used to further press her for answers on areas that they wanted addressed,” a police source said.
Police say it was Maribe who pointed them to her bedroom, where the investigators observed a gunshot mark on the wall. She told them how she had used flour paste to try and cover the mark.
Yesterday, investigators said they were using her latest statement to follow other clues. At the Lang’ata police station where the attempted suicide of Irungu is being probed, the investigators were last evening winding up their work.
So far, they have received statements of Brian Kassaine, a neighbour and a mutual friend who revealed how Irungu attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself with his (Kassaine’s) gun.
He also told investigators how Irungu had earlier gone to his house seeking paraffin when he wanted to burn some clothes.
Police arrested Kassaine at the weekend after his gun was linked to Irungu’s shooting. The gun was later hidden in the ceiling of his house.
A second neighbour, also familiar with Maribe and Irungu, has told police the two quarrelled frequently.
