Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested a police officer and launched a manhunt for an inspector they believe played a key role in the murder of psychologist Dr Victoria Mutiso.
The DCI says investigations have uncovered links between serving police officers and what they describe as a coordinated assassination allegedly connected to a long-running land dispute.
Speaking during a press briefing at Magereza House on Friday, August 7, DCI Director Mohamed Amin said the missing inspector, who was attached to Nderi Police Post under Kikuyu Police Station, was identified as the suspected link between the financiers of the murder and the team that carried out the attack.
Amin revealed that ballistic examinations had established that a Jericho pistol recovered from Nderi Police Post was the firearm used in the killing. According to investigators, the weapon had been officially issued to the police inspector who is now being sought.
"Investigations have established that the elimination of Dr Mutiso was driven by a longstanding land civil dispute," Amin said, adding that detectives were pursuing additional suspects believed to have financed and coordinated the operation.
So far, the DCI has arrested two suspects, including a police constable attached to Karinde Police Post, also under Kikuyu Police Station, who investigators believe was the gunman.
Forensic evidence and other investigations placed the officer at the scene, with detectives identifying him as the person who allegedly fired the fatal shots.
Investigators recovered two spent cartridges from the scene, while a bullet fragment retrieved during the postmortem examination helped link the recovered firearm to the shooting.
Amin said detectives pieced together the case through forensic investigations, CCTV footage and intelligence gathered from different security agencies, leading them to individuals suspected of planning and executing the attack.
According to the DCI, one suspect emerged as the main coordinator of the operation. Investigators allege that he drove a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado used to block the taxi carrying Dr Mutiso before the shooting and coordinated the movement of the attackers.
The DCI said two Toyota Prado vehicles were used during the operation, with one allegedly used to block the victim’s vehicle and another to transport the suspected hit squad.
Detectives traced the owners of both vehicles, who reportedly confirmed that they had hired them out to the main suspect before they were returned on July 30, 2026.
Vehicle tracking records allegedly placed both vehicles at the scene of the shooting at the time Dr Mutiso was attacked. Investigators have also arrested and detained a motorcycle rider accused of transporting the gunman to and from the scene.
"Investigations led our officers to serving police officers who, unfortunately, played very critical roles in the conspiracy. A police inspector, the officer in charge of Nderi Police Post under Kikuyu Police Station, has been positively identified as the link between the financiers and the operational team, as well as the source of the murder weapon," Amin said.
The DCI director described the alleged involvement of serving officers as a serious betrayal of public trust, promising that all individuals linked to the crime would be pursued.
The latest revelations come a week after Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor confirmed that Dr Mutiso died from severe bleeding after sustaining three gunshot wounds during the July 29 attack in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area.
The postmortem examination found that she suffered fatal injuries after being shot in the head and upper back, causing severe trauma.