Businesswoman and Airbnb owner Jane Wairimu Mutugi on Monday gave a harrowing testimony before the High Court detailing the gruesome moment she first saw Starlet Wahu’s lifeless body inside a Nairobi rental unit, her face down and in a pool of blood
Testifying before Justice Alexander Muteti of the Milimani High Court, Wairimu, identified as PW5, took the stand, led in her evidence in chief by State Prosecutor Mercy Njoroge, recounted the chilling scenes she encountered the night of January 3, 2024.
“I stay at Pipeline. I run a salon and Airbnb business,” she began.
“One of my units is at Sanasana in South B.”
Her calm tone belied the horror that followed.
Recalling events of January 3, 2024, she recalled receiving a call from an unknown number belonging to a man who later became the prime murder suspect, John Matara.
“He called me at around 5 p.m. asking if there was an Airbnb to rent. We switched to WhatsApp, and I sent him a picture of a unit without a balcony. He demanded a balcony. I sent another photo and he agreed.”
That second unit belonged not to Wairimu but to her associate Charity Muthoni.
Still, Wairimu managed the booking.
The court heard that the guest, Matara, accepted the Sh 3,200 charge and said he would pay cash and via Mpesa.
“He asked how long it would take from town to South B. He said he’d come by matatu. I told him to alight near Attic Place and enter via a corridor to Papino Apartments,” she explained.
Once Matara confirmed arriving, she sent her seasoned cleaner, Angelica Muthoni, to collect the money, instructing her to keep Sh 200 and deliver the rest to Charity.
“Angelica later confirmed she collected the payment from the guest.”
Hours later, chaos began. At around 9:00 p.m., Wairimu got a frantic call from Charity, saying Matara had left the apartment wearing a towel soaked in blood.
“I rushed to South B Hazina Police Station. I asked officers to escort me to Papino Apartments and later to Mbagathi Hospital.”
At the scene, police found the door locked from the inside.
They forced entry. What came next shook Wairimu to her core.
“When officers broke the door, I saw the woman, Wahu, her face was down, and she was squatting near the door. From where I stood, I could see blood everywhere in the house,” she recounted.
Wairimu insisted she never entered the apartment, but the evidence unfolded before her eyes.
“She was not moving. She was not alive. The house was full of blood. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Wahu’s body was removed later, taken to City Mortuary, while authorities began the search for the suspect.
Overwhelmed, Wairimu recalled calling Matara’s number repeatedly.
“I called him at least ten times. On the eleventh call, a woman answered and said he was at South B Hospital. Then we were told he’d been referred to Mbagathi Hospital.”
She further stated that she sent a bodaboda rider to verify the information that indeed Matara was admitted at South B hospital.
But the rider, minutes later, confirmed to us that he had been told by a security officer at South B hospital that Matara has been referred to M bagathi hospital
Together with Charity and the police, Wairimu went to Mbagathi, where they found Matara receiving medical care.
“Charity identified him immediately; he was the same man she’d seen inside Room Y32. The police arrested him on the spot,” Wairimu stated.
The man arrested at the hospital, she confirmed, is the same individual seated before the court, the accused person John Matara.
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Mr Samuel Ayora, Wairimu clarified she had never met Matara before January 3 and had only spoken with him that day he sough a room
“Did you ever interact with him in person before that date?” Ayora asked.
“No. The first time I actually saw him was at Mbagathi Hospital,” she admitted.
Pressed on whether she had any evidence tying Matara to Wahu’s death, her answer was stark:
“Do you have anything to show he killed Wahu?”
“I have nothing to show that he killed her. l was not there. l was called when the soldier of the apartment that he had seen Matara leaving with a towel soaked in blood .”
She recounted that Matara had arrived at the apartment at around 6:40 p.m., paid cash, and that she had never entered the unit personally.
“It was locked from inside with a padlock. The window grills were locked too.”
When asked, she confirmed that only one person, the deceased, was inside Room Y32 when the police forced entry.
“When officers broke in, there was just one woman there, and she was already dead.”
She insisted she has no knowledge of any relationship between Matara and Wahu and did not witness any suspicious behavior from Matara.
The murder of Starlet Wahu, a popular influencer and entrepreneur, has become one of the most high-profile cases in recent Kenyan history.
Found dead in what appeared to be an Airbnb rented under false names, her death prompted widespread public concern over safety, particularly for women meeting strangers online.
Matara has pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution contends he lured Wahu to the apartment under false pretenses, then killed her in a violent, isolated encounter.
He was arrested within hours of the discovery, while being treated at Mbagathi Hospital for undisclosed injuries.
The court is expected to hear forensic experts, digital analysts, and other key witnesses in the coming days.
