The court has granted police 21 days to complete investigations into the brutal murder of British national Campbell Scott Alistair, whose body was discovered dumped in Machakos County.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Lukas Onyina allowed an application by investigators to detain suspects Alex Mutua Kithuka and Albunus Mutinda Nzioki at Capitol Hill Police Station and Kilimani Police Station, respectively, as detectives pursue leads in the high-profile case.
“I will allow the application made by the Investigating Officer in charge, Sgt. Philip Kilonzo, to detain the 1st and 2nd respondents at Capitol Hill Police Station and Kilimani Police Station for 21 days,” ruled Magistrate Onyina.
According to court documents, Alistair, who had traveled to Kenya for a conference, was last seen on February 16, 2025, leaving Havana’s Club in Westlands, Nairobi, with an unidentified African male. Investigators believe he was taken to a house in Pipeline, Nairobi, where he was murdered before his body was dumped along the Machakos-Wote road.
In an affidavit before the court, it is alleged that on February 22, 2025, a local herder discovered a sack containing a body, bound at the hands and feet, in a ditch near Makongo Forest. The herder reported the finding to the area chief, who then alerted the police.
The body was later transferred to Makueni County Referral Hospital morgue, where it was identified on February 24 by David Hornus, a crisis consultant representing Alistair’s family and employer, FICO Company in London.
Detectives from the DCI homicide unit established that following Alistair’s disappearance, multiple attempts were made to withdraw money from his bank account in Nairobi, Voi, and Mombasa.
After weeks of tracking leads, police arrested Mutua and Mutinda on March 1, 2025, along Nairobi-Machakos Road. The prosecution successfully argued that their detention was necessary to allow further investigations, including the recovery of Alistair’s missing phone and SIM card and the arrest of other possible accomplices.
A post-mortem examination conducted on February 27 by government pathologists Dr. Richard Njoroge and Dr. Samuel Omuok was inconclusive, with experts awaiting toxicology and histology reports to determine the exact cause of death. DNA samples were also collected for forensic analysis.
The case is set for mention on March 24, 2025 pending completion of investigations.
