Machakos law court has ordered the suspect in the murder of National Land Commission (NLC) official Jennifer Itumbi Wambua to undergo a mental assessment test in order to ascertain whether he is fit to take plea to murder charges.
Wambua was NLC's acting Communication Director by the time she was murdered.
Judge David Kenei directed Peter Mwangi Njenga alias Sankale to undergo the assessment ahead of the scheduled plea taking session on May 26.
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"I hereby order the government to provide a pro bono advocate for the suspect before the date given by the court, " Kenei said.
Sankale will remain in custody at Kitengela police station.
This comes after the Director of Public Prosecutions approved the murder charges against the accused person.
"The court is hereby informed by the director of public prosecutions on behalf of the republic that the above persons are charged with the offence of murder contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the penal code(cap63) laws of Kenya," case document signed by DPP read in part.
According to the charge sheet, the accused committed the offence between March 12 and 13 at veterinary farm Ebul bul in Kajiado North sub-county within Kajiado county.
The offence was committed with others, not before the court.
The latest developments come days after forensic analysis by the DCI detectives placed the accused at the scene of the murder.
Samples test taken from the victim also matched the suspect leading to the conclusion by the DCI that Sankale is the major suspect.
Sankale was the last person seen with Wambua and it is believed he raped her before killing her.
DCI revealed that the suspect is a perennial jailbird who has been involved in similar crimes of sexually assaulting victims before strangling them to death.
It was also established that the suspect was once sentenced to death by hanging at Kibera Law Courts in January 2003 and it's not clear how he left prison.
