Boniface Kariuki post-mortem: Bullet fragments found in brain

Mask vendor Boniface Kariuki died from a head injury caused by a bullet, with at least four fragments discovered embedded in his brain, government pathologist Dr Peter Ndegwa said on Thursday.

The post-mortem was conducted at the Kenyatta National Hospital Funeral Home.

“We have completed the post-mortem and concluded that he died due to a severe head injury. The brain was extensively damaged. We found four small bullet fragments, possibly rubber, lodged deep in the brain tissue,” said Dr Ndegwa. 

He noted that the fragments were likely missed during initial surgery due to their size and inaccessibility. “The chances of survival were minimal and there was a lot of bleeding,” Dr Ndegwa added.

Family spokesperson Emily Wanjira expressed anguish at the discovery of additional fragments. “It is a shock to us that there were more fragments. We knew two had been removed earlier and now there are four more,” she said.

Ms Wanjira said the family had earlier attended a court session at Milimani Law Courts but the case was postponed to next week to allow for further investigations.

The family now plans to move Kariuki’s body to Kenyatta University Funeral Home along Thika Road ahead of his burial scheduled for July 11 in Kangema, Murang’a County.

She added that the family is appealing to Kenyans for financial support to help settle medical and funeral bills. “We will bury him and deal with the case later. The case has now been reclassified as murder. That is where we are so far,” she said.