Former Chief Government Pathologist Dr Moses Njue and his son, who were accused of stealing a heart belonging to a dead body at Lee Funeral home, have been freed by a Nairobi court for lack of evidence.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo has acquitted Njue and his son Lemuel Anasha Mureithi Njue of all accusations of stealing multiple body parts from the late Timothy Mwandi Muumbo, a polygamous man.
The duo faced three counts of theft, willful destruction of evidence and illegal removal of body parts.
"I find that the prosecution has not proved a prima facie case against the accused persons. I acquit them under section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). I order their cash bail deposited in court be refunded," Magistrate Kagendo said.
While dismissing the case, the magistrate said that the prosecution did not adduce any evidence of theft or removal of a heart from a dead body belonging to Muumbo at Lee Funeral home in 2015.
The magistrate further found that the prosecution did not prove that Njue and his son destroyed the alleged stole heart from the dead body.
"It is sympathetic that a person who was hired to conduct a postmortem on a dead person found himself in the dock on allegations of theft of body parts," the magistrate said
Different dates
While analysing the contradicting evidence availed by the prosecution, the magistrate noted that the dates on which the two pathologists were alleged to have secretly taken away the man’s heart while carrying out a postmortem on his body were different.
In her decision, Magistrate Kagendo condemned the action of the state for charging the former government pathologist and his son without sufficient evidence.
On interference with the heart of Muumbo, the magistrate noted one of the prosecution witnesses who testified in the case said that the alleged stolen heart was properly packed and stalled.
Immediately after the magistrate pronounced that they have no case to answer, the accused persons broke into tears and said they have suffered for no reason for the last seven years.
"I thank God that I now am free together with my son and all allegations against us have been cleared. It has been disturbing since l served the government for many years without any allegations of misconduct and only to be charged at my retirement age," Njue said.
Suspicious death
Dr Njue, who used to carry out some operations assisted by his son, also a pathologist, was cleared of the allegations of illegally removing parts from a body. His alleged victim was 70-year-old who had died of disputed causes, raising the suspicion of his children.
The hurried, murky manner in which Muumbo’s body was embalmed and reports of a confrontation at the deceased’s home before he was reported to have suffered a heart attack, caused the family to seek out an exhumation.
It was then, at a postmortem at which Njue’s successor was present, that it was discovered that the late Muumbo suffered defensive wounds and was buried without his heart, which would have served as the ‘star witness’ to the heart attack he’d reportedly suffered at the time of his death.
However another case in which Njue is accused of stealing another man's heart during a postmortem is still pending in court.
In the case Njue is alleged to have also stole the heart of Benedict Karau, a polygamist who died in 2015 at
The Prosecution of Njue over Karau matter was on the basis of a complaint filed by his son Charles Mwongela because of inconsistencies in the post-mortem report and the account of the old man’s death given by his youngest wife, Martha Gakou.
On the night her husband died, Martha told the family that the old man had choked on his food while taking dinner. Dr Njue’s post-mortem later stated that he had died of a heart attack but the family noted that his body had bruises and injuries on the head and hands. Oddly, the report also talked of alcohol in his veins yet Karau was a long-standing teetotaler.
Alarm bells started ringing when the family discovered that Karau’s body had been embalmed the same night it had been booked into the mortuary.
It had been taken to the dead house after the post-mortem where the third wife was represented by Dr Njue.
It is claimed that after the operation, also attended by Dr Scholasitica Kimani, Dr Njue had the heart, kidney and other body parts carried away in a container by a mortuary attendant.
Karau was buried soon after, in March, 2015, at the home of his second wife in Ankamia location, Meru.
