The High Court has acquitted three out of seven suspects charged with the 2015 murder of former Kabete MP George Mukuru Muchai, citing insufficient evidence to link them to the crime.
Justice Kanyi Kimondo, delivering his ruling on September 23, 2025, freed Jane Wanjiru Kamau (alias Shiro), Margaret Njeri Wachiuri, and Simon Wambugu Gichamba after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them. The judge emphasized that criminal convictions require proof beyond reasonable doubt, which was lacking in their case.
“In a criminal trial, the standard of proof is beyond any reasonable doubt… Fundamentally, the evidence does not reveal malice aforethought,” Justice Kimondo noted, ruling the three not guilty under Section 306(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
However, the court determined that the first four accused—Eric Mungera Isabwa (alias Chairman), Raphael Kimani Gachii (alias Kim Butcher), Mustafa Kimani Anyoni (alias Musto), and Stephen Astiva Lipopo (alias Chokore)—have a case to answer. The judge ruled that sufficient evidence had been presented to place them on their defence under Section 306(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The seven suspects are also facing separate robbery with violence charges in a lower court, further extending their legal battles.
The murder of George Muchai, who was fatally shot on February 6–7, 2015, along Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi, shocked the nation and has remained one of Kenya’s most high-profile criminal cases in recent years.
