Kirinyaga killer brew bar owner denied bond as all 7 witnesses blind

A Kirinyaga court has ruled that the bond application of the owner of the bar where 17 people died after consuming illicit brew will be determined after witnesses identified by the prosecution team are heard within the next 60 to 90 days.

California bar owner John Muriithi, through his lawyer Kemunto Magara, had applied to be released on bond in the case where he is charged with two counts.

He faces the first count of causing the death of 17 people at Kangai village, and the second of stealing exhibits locked at Kiamaciri Police Station.

Kerugoya High Court Judge Richard Mwongo on Thursday denied Muriithi’s bond application saying the seven witnesses set to be presented in the case by the prosecution can easily be interfered with as they are all blind.

Muriithi was initially charged alongside his brother Anthony Muthee, Muiguru bar owner Lydiah Wanjiru, police officers Francis Mutethia, Allan Kimanzi, Brian Kariuki and former Kiamaciri commanding station officer Kennedy Mugambi.

Muteithia, Kariuki, and Mugambi have since been released on a bond of Ksh.1 million, while Kimanzi was granted a Ksh.500,000 bond after his lawyer Nyaga Gitari argued that he had served in the police force for only one year and that he is an orphan.

Wanjiru was, on the other hand, granted a bond of Ksh.800,000 while Muthee was freed on a Ksh.1 million bond.