An evening disagreement at an exclusive Loresho Ridge residence, followed by an hour behind closed doors, has become the focus of investigations into the killing of 86-year-old Dorita Lasinder Macharia, with CCTV recordings and disturbing forensic discoveries offering clues to the events that preceded her death.
Detectives are piecing together the elderly woman's final movements using security footage, witness statements and evidence collected from the house, including bloodstained knives, clothes and towels found soaking in a sink. Investigators suspect some of the items may have been handled in an attempt to conceal evidence of the fatal attack.
The CCTV recordings provide a detailed account of the events outside the residence on Friday, October 30, but leave unanswered questions about what happened inside the house during the final hour of Dorita's life.
The footage shows Dorita arriving at the property at approximately 9pm in a vehicle driven by her son, Antony Macharia.
After entering the house, she reportedly encountered a gathering around the swimming pool, where her granddaughter, Thandie Malaika Gitao, was hosting a party.
Neighbours later told investigators that the gathering had been unusually noisy, prompting Dorita to confront those present.
She was heard protesting and ordering at least four people to leave the premises before walking out of the house in apparent anger.
Rather than leave immediately, Dorita returned to the vehicle and remained inside for approximately 20 minutes. During that period, she made telephone calls to her daughter, Regina Re, and another son who was based in the United States.
The US-based son later travelled to Nairobi, arriving on Friday, November 6, as detectives intensified their investigations.
Regina told police that her mother had been angered by the people she found at the residence. She was not at home when the confrontation started, having travelled to a family house in Kyuna, but hurried back after learning about the incident.
Security cameras also captured the movements of people who had initially left the compound before returning shortly afterwards.
Dorita, however, remained in the vehicle, apparently reluctant to re-enter the house while the disagreement continued.
She had contacted Antony and asked him to intervene by ensuring Thandie and her male friend, Immanuel Munyeki, left the property.
The intervention appeared to calm the situation, with Thandie eventually leaving the residence.
But the departure did not mark the end of the events that night.
According to investigators, Thandie later returned to the house without Munyeki and spent approximately one hour with her grandmother.
That period is now one of the most important aspects of the investigation, with detectives seeking to establish what triggered the confrontation that allegedly ended in Dorita's death.
Police suspect the two had another disagreement, reportedly linked to Dorita's dissatisfaction with her granddaughter's behaviour.
What happened inside the house remains unclear, as the available CCTV recordings do not reveal the events that unfolded during their time together.
Detectives have also been unable to establish the precise time Regina arrived at the residence. They say a vehicle whose headlights had been providing illumination for the cameras had its lights switched off, making it difficult to follow movements outside as the situation inside deteriorated.
The silence was eventually interrupted by screams, with Dorita reportedly heard asking why she had been stabbed.
Thandie then came out of the house in distress, shouting that her grandmother was bleeding.
Those who rushed into the residence found the elderly woman lying on the floor, bleeding heavily from a deep neck wound.
Neighbours who heard the commotion alerted the police, who arrived to find Dorita's body covered and lying on a carpet.
By the time officers entered the room, the floor had reportedly been cleaned and visible blood removed.
A search of the house subsequently uncovered evidence that detectives believe could help explain what happened after the stabbing.
Among the items recovered were two knives bearing bloodstains, a broken stool and clothes covered in blood.
Investigators also found towels that had been soaked in water inside a sink, raising suspicions that someone may have tried to remove bloodstains.
Clothing believed to have been worn by Thandie during the incident was also recovered from a basket where it had been placed alongside items awaiting washing. The garments reportedly bore bloodstains.
Detectives further noted that Thandie had a cut on one of her hands, an injury they want forensic experts to examine to determine how it occurred.
The apparent cleaning of the room and the handling of the bloodied items have raised concerns among investigators about possible interference with the crime scene.
Police have also been examining claims by Thandie suggesting that another person could have participated in the killing. Detectives are therefore pursuing the possibility that the attack involved more than one individual.
The circumstances surrounding the handling of Dorita's body also became a subject of discussion among witnesses.
Antony was reportedly distressed when officers arrived and asked to be given time to mourn his mother. However, police allegedly prevented him from touching the body before directing that it be taken to a mortuary.
Officers subsequently ordered those found at the property to accompany them to Gigiri Police Station for questioning.
The residence was secured as a crime scene, while Dorita's body was transferred to Lee Funeral Home.
However, when detectives returned to the house on Saturday morning, they encountered another development that raised fresh concerns.
The house had been opened using a spare key, and the scene that officers had previously secured had been disturbed.
A postmortem examination later confirmed that Dorita had died from excessive blood loss following multiple stab wounds to the neck.
The examination was conducted by government pathologist Dr Bernard Midia at Lee Funeral Home, where detectives from Gigiri, three pathologists and lawyers representing the deceased and the suspects were present.
The findings revealed the extent of the violence inflicted on the elderly woman, with injuries recorded on several parts of her body, particularly the face and neck.
“The injuries consisted of multiple stab wounds to the neck with injury to the blood vessels which led to severe external bleeding and two stab wounds in the neck,” Dr Midia noted.
“There were also other sharp force injuries, cut wounds to various parts of the body but mainly around the face and neck, there were more than 20 ... there were also other injuries including the left upper arm, there was a fracture on that arm.”
The pathologist also suggested that the weapon used in the attack may have been considerably sharper than an ordinary kitchen knife, based on the nature of the wounds.
“I have seen a sharp force so it was most likely blade, it could have been a knife but it was a sharp, sharp, sharp object,” he said.
The findings provided investigators with a clearer understanding of how Dorita died, although the motive and identity of those responsible remained unresolved.
Family lawyer Philip Murgor welcomed the conclusion of the postmortem, saying the examination had established the cause of death and left detectives with the responsibility of identifying the perpetrators.
“We are glad this exercise has been concluded to the extent that we now know what the cause of her death was; the rest is entirely up to the DCI to establish the perpetrators and the motive,” Murgor said.
As the investigation progressed, detectives focused on four people connected to the family and the events at the residence.
They included Regina Wambui Gitau, popularly known as Regina Re; her daughter Thandie Malaika Gitao; her brother Jimmy Macharia; and Munyeki, who was Thandie's boyfriend.
Regina, a former television presenter who gained recognition through the quiz programme Who's Smarter Now?, was among those arrested as police sought to establish the circumstances surrounding her mother's death.
The four were presented before magistrate Barbara Akinyi at the Kibera Law Courts on November 2, when police sought permission to hold them for additional questioning as investigations continued.
Prosecutor Faith Musoma asked the court for 15 days, explaining that detectives still had several important procedures to complete.
In an affidavit filed before the court, investigating officer David Njoroge provided an account of the events leading to the killing.
He stated that Dorita had become furious after allegedly finding Thandie and Munyeki in an intimate moment at the house.
The elderly woman reportedly ordered her granddaughter and the other people present to leave, sparking a confrontation that resulted in Thandie walking out of the residence.
She later returned and remained with Dorita for about an hour before another disturbance was reported inside the house.
Investigators told the court that Dorita was subsequently found dead, with the circumstances surrounding the alleged cleaning of the room and the discovery of her body forming part of the inquiry.
Murgor, who reportedly witnessed the scene, had also questioned the circumstances of the death, saying it did not appear natural.
The prosecution further informed the court that detectives needed to examine mobile phones belonging to the suspects to establish their communications before and after the killing.
The phone analysis is among the outstanding procedures expected to help investigators reconstruct the events of that evening and establish whether there were communications pointing to the planning or execution of the attack.
With the postmortem confirming multiple fatal injuries and CCTV footage providing a timeline of the confrontation, detectives are now seeking answers to the events that unfolded during the hour Dorita spent with her granddaughter.
They are also investigating the bloodied clothing, the soaked towels, the disturbed crime scene and claims that other people may have been involved in the killing.