05 July 2016•Update: 11 July 2016
By Magdalene Mukami
NAIROBI, Kenya
A fourth Kenyan police officer was arrested Tuesday as an autopsy revealed the brutal nature of the injuries to a murdered human rights lawyer.
A judge ordered that police Sgt. Leonard Maina Mwangi be held for 13 days for further inquiries to be conducted.
The body of lawyer Willie Kimani was discovered Friday in a river 70 kilometers (43 miles) northeast of Nairobi. The bodies of his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Jospeh Muruiri were also found.
The deaths are believed by many to be the latest in a series of extra-judicial killings carried out by police.
Chief Pathologist Johansen Oduor told reporters the three suffered wounds to their heads caused by blunt objects and had been strangled. He said Kimani’s wounds were deeper than the injuries to Mwenda and Muruiri.
Speaking after an eight-hour autopsy, Oduor said it was possible the men were thrown into the river while still alive.
In an appearance before the High Court in Nairobi, Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro said the U.S. FBI was assisting in the investigation into the deaths. He was speaking following an application from the Law Society of Kenya for him to give assurances about the police inquiry.
“I will ensure that there will be no interruptions and the investigations will be complete within the 14 days that we have been allocated,” Muhoro said.
The killings have led to nationwide protests by lawyers and a week-long boycott on court cases.
