John Kibowen, 24, KU student, strangled to death in Industrial Area Remand Prison

A Kenyatta University graduate accused of impersonating former DCI chief Ndegwa Muhoro and IG Joseph Boinnet was strangled to death, a postmortem report has revealed.

The results produced by government pathologist Johansen Oduor showed John Kibowen, 24, had injuries on the neck.

Part of his brain was swollen, and there were blood clots on the tips of his fingers.

Kibowen reportedly collapsed on June 16 at the Industrial Area remand where he was being detained. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Kibowen was confirmed dead at the Kenyatta National Hospital on June 18 after he allegedly collapsed at the prison.

His mother Jane Anyango earlier said in police statements her firstborn son was strangled to death by a warden during a scuffle at the remand on the night of June 16.

Kibowen completed his undergraduate studies in Computer Science in KU last year and was awaiting graduation this year.

“I was told the body had been taken to City Mortuary. I went there and found it. The records there indicated sudden death,” she told the Star.

She said in an effort to solve the mystery surrounding her son’s death, she decided to have another autopsy conducted at Chiromo Mortuary.

“I have seen the report and according to pathologist Oduor, my son’s neck had injuries on the left side, part of his brain was swollen, and there were blood clots on the tips of his fingers,” Anyango said.

“It does not add up. A person who collapsed could not have signs of strangulation and such injuries.”

Anyango demanded justice for her son, saying Kibowen had been in remand for five weeks.

The businesswoman at Kenyatta Market is seeking an explanation on the action that prison authority took when her son collapsed.

She said the prison authority is yet to open up on what ailment Kibowen was diagnosed with at the prison’s healthcare.

Anyango received reports from a fellow inmate that her son was assaulted to death by a warden who spotted him with a mobile phone.

The officer in charge of Industrial Area prison, James Kodieny, has met the family and denied Kibowen was assaulted.

He declined to give the family answers on the cause of death.

Kodieny said Kibowen collapsed while queuing for meals and died later at KNH where he was rushed.

Kibowen was charged with impersonating Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Ndegwa Muhoro and IG Joseph Boinnet on Facebook.

Accusations leveled against him by the prosecution state he allegedly opened a false Facebook account in the name of DCI boss Ndegwa Muhoro, defrauding unsuspecting Kenyans of more than Sh0.5 million.

He is alleged to have pretended that he would fast-track investigations into their cases.

The prison chiefs declined a request by the family to talk to the prisons nurse who attended to her son and declined to have the family access the medical records at the clinic.

“Why don’t you want to give us details of his death, which we need as a family?” Anyango said.

Kodieny told the family a senior officer had been sent from the prisons headquarters to investigate the death, but declined to reveal the status of their probe.

The three top cops did not look surprised when Anyango told them she received information from a caller at the remand that Kibowen was killed in a scuffle.

She said the caller told her Kibowen was taken to an isolation room by the officer who demanded that he hand over the cell phone and cash. “The officer kicked Kibowen until he fell unconscious after he failed to produce the phone,” Anyango said.

The Star