Lawyer Paul Gicheru's family speaks out as homicide detectives probe his mysterious death

Homicide detectives are investigating the death of lawyer Paul Gicheru, an International Criminal Court (ICC) suspect who died Monday evening at his Karen home in Nairobi.

After more than seven hours of dusting the scene and securing the body, sleuths left the deceased lawyer’s compound at 4 am Monday with a vehicle from the Lee Funeral Home in tow.

His body was taken to the funeral home for an autopsy.

On Tuesday morning, the detectives were back in Karen recording statements from all individuals who were present during Gicheru's death; his father-in-law, his wife and house help.

Gicheru's son, who was also in the house at the time of his death, is said to have collapsed after receiving word of his father's passing but has since been taken to a hospital where he is reported to be in stable condition.

"He was not himself, something bothered him and I think he must have been stressed but I don’t like what I’m reading on social media the son must have collapsed because of the shock when he saw his father dying," Khaminwa told Citizen TV.

On his part, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Eric Theuri called on the Inspector General of Police to move with speed in uncovering the circumstances surrounding Gicheru's death.

"We are alive to the fact that he was not at the peak of his health but we would want the cause of his death be established in a manner that would put to rest any concerns that the death is nothing but a natural one," said Theuri.

As the news of the death of Gicheru continues to sink in, the mood at his mother’s house in Annex estate in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County was sombre.

Friends and family have since joined Gicheru's mother, Josephine Wambui, to mourn the death of her third-born son which came as a shocker.

"It's not easy for someone to just drop dead like that when he was not even sick," Josephine Wambui, Gicheru's mother, told Citizen TV.

"I spoke to him last Friday and he told me he was doing okay. He then asked me if my other siblings and myself visit our elderly mother and I told him we do. He was very soft-spoken; he only cared about his family," Gicheru's sister, Ruth Njoroge, added.

Gicheru came to the limelight in 2020 when he surrendered to authorities in the Netherlands pursuant to an arrest warrant issued against him in 2015 by the ICC where he was being accused of influencing witnesses in the case against President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Sang over the 2007 post-election violence.

On February 1, 2021, Gicheru was released to Kenya with specific conditions restricting his liberty, as the case brought against him proceeded at the Hague.

His family says that they could not access him easily but they were in constant communication.

Gicheru died before the ICC  issued its final verdict on the case against him. The case now faces collapse with his family calling for thorough investigations to establish the cause of his death.