A police officer attached to South B Police Station has told the court how he responded to the crime scene where socialite Starlet Wahu Mwangi was brutally murdered in January 2024.

Arresting officer Morace Arwa testified that on January 4, 2024, he received a call from the duty officer instructing him to visit a crime scene at Papino Apartments in South B.

Upon arrival, he found two women who informed him that there was a dead body inside one of the apartments. Inside the house, police discovered the naked body of Starlet Wahu lying in a pool of blood.

The officer further told the court that Andrew Nyongesa later brought the suspect, John Matara Ong’oa, to South B Hospital for treatment. Nyongesa informed the police that he had only assisted the accused in getting to the hospital.

At the hospital, police found the accused receiving treatment from nurses. He had visible bloodstains on a blue denim shirt and was wrapped in a white towel around his waist. The suspect identified himself as a 34-year-old man known as Matara.

Officer Arwa testified that he questioned the suspect about the killing of Starlet Wahu, whom the accused claimed was his girlfriend.

According to the officer, the accused admitted that he had a scuffle with the deceased and stated that he managed to stab her on the left thigh.

Further interrogation could not continue at the time because the suspect was still undergoing medical treatment. After treatment, nurses administered painkillers to him.

A forensic examiner also testified before the court, presenting DNA evidence linking the accused to the crime. The murder weapon, a knife recovered at the scene, was found to contain blood from both the deceased, Starlet Wahu Mwangi, and the accused, John Matara Ong’oa.

Blood stains collected from a swab taken from the accused matched the DNA profile of the deceased. Additionally, bloodstains found on the knife, the denim shirt, and one of the towels produced a mixed DNA profile matching both the deceased and the accused.

Further forensic analysis revealed that bloodstains on a pair of trousers and another towel matched the DNA profile of the accused. A semen stain recovered from a condom at the scene also generated a mixed DNA profile, which included a match to the accused.

John Matara Ong’oa, the prime suspect in the murder of socialite Starlet Wahu Mwangi, was in 2024 formally charged with her murder, which occurred at an apartment in South B, Nairobi.