By Andrew Kariuki
The High Court in Milimani on Tuesday, October, 1, 2025 heard testimony from four new witnesses in the ongoing murder trial of John Matara Ong’oa, the man accused of killing socialite Starlet Wahu on the night of January 3, 2024, at Papino Apartments in South B, Nairobi.
The prosecution, led by Della Wilbey, Sarah Ogweno and Peris Maina, called a clinical officer, a forensic video analyst and two security guards to the stand.
Clinical officer Isaiah Olang told the court he attended to an emergency case involving a male patient on the night of the killing. The man, later identified as the accused, had “two stab wounds, one on the right thigh and another on the right hand and appeared intoxicated.”
Olang said he and three other medics managed to stop the bleeding, gave the patient painkillers and issued a referral letter to Mbagathi Hospital at the patient’s request. He noted the accused stayed at South B Hospital for less than two hours.
The court then heard from Police Constable Elizabeth Njuguna, a forensic video analyst. She testified that she received CCTV footage on January 9, 2024, for analysis. After reviewing nine clips, she produced “23 still photographs dated January 23, 2024.”
The footage, she confirmed, played in chronological order and showed a man and woman entering Papino Apartments on the evening of January 3rd. The man wore “a black cap, bluish long-sleeved shirt, brown trousers and carried a red bag.”
Later that night, at 10:09 p.m, the same man appeared alone in the corridor, this time with “a white cloth around his neck.” He briefly waited by the lift before using the staircase, later taking the lift to the ground floor. “A stain, suspected to be blood, was visible on his leg,” Njuguna said. The man exited the main entrance at 10:11 p.m.
Despite her analysis, Njuguna said she could not identify the suspect clearly as his face was not clearly visible in any of the footage.
Two security guards, Joseph Ndungi and George Gitau, also gave evidence. Ndungi testified that he saw a suspicious man leaving Papino Apartments that night. “He wore a blue t-shirt, a white towel and khaki trousers. I noticed what appeared to be bloodstained on his legs,” he said.
Ndungi said he contacted Gitau, who had not seen the man exit. The two guards then checked CCTV footage and followed a trail of blood to the fourth floor, stopping at door Y32, which was locked. Gitau called the apartment owner, Florence, who arrived with a spare key.
Inside, they found the lifeless body of a naked woman lying on the floor. “There were bloodstains from the bedroom to the sitting room, and the body had visible injuries to the neck,” Ndungi told the court. He later identified the accused in court as the same man seen on the CCTV footage.
Gitau corroborated Ndungi’s account, adding that he had not seen the man leave because he was “checking on water tanks at the time.”
The hearing was adjourned to October 2, 2025, when three more witnesses are expected to testify.
