Mother painfully narrates how her first-born son murdered his siblings in cold blood

“Any woman who’s ever lost a child knows of the hollowness that remained within the soul."

The aforementioned quote by American author Brittainy C. Cherry perfectly epitomizes the harrowing journey of 51-year-old Trizah Jane Muthoni who endured the tragic loss of two children at the hands of her firstborn son, Joseph Githinji, in a span of seven months.

Muthoni, a Nyeri County native, found herself thrust into motherhood at a very tender age after marrying at 17. A year later, in 2001, she welcomed her first born child, Joseph. Soon after Muthoni sired her second and third children; Naftali and Peter.

Muthoni and her family had at the time relocated to Rumuruti, at her husband's behest, before moving to Kibera.

Initially, life as a married woman proved idyllic for Muthoni but everything changed after her better half lost his father.

"At the time my husband's parents were living in Gilgil. My husband was the youngest of his siblings and as per Kikuyu traditions, the youngest child is required to live with his mother in the event that the patron of the family dies," Muthoni told Citizen TV's Lulu Hassan on the Shajara Show.

"After some deliberation my husband and in-laws resolved to send me to Gilgil to live with my mother-in-law. I went there but my husband remained in Nairobi with my first-born child Joseph who continued his schooling in the city."

Muthoni went to Gilgil with Naftali and Peter.

"A few months after going to Gilgil, my husband married another woman. He later brought her to Gilgil but I couldn't stomach the disrespect so I left and moved to Eldoret without saying a word," she said.

"I only left with Peter. Naftali had at this point in time joined Joseph in Nairobi for studies."

While in Eldoret, Muthoni would get word that Naftali was enduring hardships in Nairobi so she decided to go pick up her son.

"We went to Eldoret and after some time my sister who was housing me at the time then suggested that they'd take Naftali in and relocate to Murang'a," she said.

"I would go visit him occasionally just like I would visit Joseph in Nairobi because their father was not helping me raise them in any way."

In 2018, family and friends in Kibera would however inform Muthoni that Joseph was slowly morphing into a delinquent, owing to her continued absence and that of his father who had absolved himself of parental duties.

"I dropped everything and went to talk to Joseph who was in Form Four at the time. I informed him that I was displeased with the rumours I heard and I asked him to consider moving to Murang'a to join his brother; he agreed. I had already spoken to my sister and her husband and they supported the decision," she said.

"When we got to Murang'a, Joseph was asked to go back to Form Three in the new school he enrolled in. He agreed and started doing quite well."

In September 2018, Muthoni's sister phoned to inform her that there was trouble at home without going into specifics.

"I closed my business and went to Murang'a. When I arrived they told me that Naftali had allegedly committed suicide by hanging. He was only 12-years-old," she said.

Joseph later told Muthoni that he was the one who discovered Naftali's body.

Muthoni wanted to have a post-mortem conducted on the deceased but family members advised against it since his body was reportedly found dangling from a tree.

"I went to the police and told them that I had accepted that my son had committed suicide. We thereafter made necessary funeral arrangements and the boy was buried in Gilgil at his father's home."

Reeling from her loss, Muthoni wanted to leave Murang'a with Joseph but her sister suggested that she wait for the boy to sit for his KCSE exams.

"Joseph remained in Murang'a until he finished his exams. I picked him up after the tests and we lived in Eldoret together with Peter my youngest son. I however started noticing that he had picked up a few bad habits. He had particularly taken a liking to horror films and violent movies which he would watch for hours on end," said Muthoni.

One day, Muthoni would get into a verbal altercation with Joseph who left her home, spending the night elsewhere before returning in the morning. He claimed to have spent the night at a friend's place.

"I asked for an apology but he said he wouldn't make one before leaving again and coming home the next day. He adamantly told me that he would rather live with his father in Nairobi than be with me," she said.

"I had opened up a small business at the time there and he asked me for our house key so that he could go take a shower, prepare and go to his father."

Muthoni obliged the request but secretly followed Joseph to their home. After preparing for his journey, Joseph reportedly asked Peter to escort him to the bus station.

"Peter was nine-years-old and he was scared of his brother so he walked with him to the bus stage. I didn't think Joseph would do anything to his younger brother," she said.

Neither Joseph nor Peter came home that night. Joseph however returned home the next day; he was alone.

"When I asked where Peter was, Joseph claimed that they had parted ways the previous day and that he had instructed him to come home. Joseph said he spent the night at a friend's place," a teary Muthoni said.

Muthoni convinced Joseph to accompany her to a nearby police station to file a missing persons report.

"On our way back home, I instructed Joseph to go look for Peter at the place he claimed to have parted ways with him. I went to another police station to file another missing persons report. At the station, police informed me that they would only take action after 24 hours elapsed," Muthoni said.

Undeterred by the constant back and forth, Muthoni made her way to the local chief's camp where she filed a similar report and submitted photographs of the missing boy.

A dejected Muthoni later went home to confide in one of her close friends. Joseph would arrive at the homestead much later.

"He swore before us that he didn't know where Peter was. Though I had my reservations I couldn't imagine that he had harmed his brother," she said.

The next day, Muthoni went back to the Police Station where she found different officers from the day before. The officers told her not to look for the boy any further but instead to find a way to bring Joseph to the precinct for further questioning.

"They gave me the contacts of a few officers to call in case Joseph refused to come to the station and they warned me not to sleep in the same house as him," she said.

The next day, Joseph agreed to go back to the precinct. He was however unaware that police wanted to question him.  

"We were briefly interrogated together by police before I was asked to step out so that detectives could question Joseph alone," she said.

"Despite interrogations, Joseph remained mum and I told the officers to hold him at the precinct until he revealed where Peter was."

The next day, Muthoni made her way back to the precinct where Joseph was still maintaining his innocence.

Joseph was later taken to a secluded interrogation room. Soon after Muthoni was informed that Joseph had agreed to take detectives to where Peter was.

"Police phoned me and told me to return to the precinct. When I arrived, the station's OCS started counselling me and that's when I knew something was off," she said.

"They later told me to board a police vehicle so that they could take me to where Peter was."

Muthoni would arrive at the scene only to be informed that Peter had been strangled to death by Joseph and his body dumped in a pit latrine.

"Post-mortem results later revealed that my boy didn't die instantly. When he was thrown in the pit latrine; he was still alive," she said.

Joseph, who was at the scene, was adamant that he be released so that he could apologise to his mother. He told police that he would commit suicide immediately after making the apology.

"During this period, Joseph ranted about Naftali who we believed had committed suicide. After further interrogations, he confessed to killing him as well. He killed him before tying the noose around his neck to feign suicide," said Muthoni.  

Despite being subsequently arraigned and charged with double murder, Joseph was only sentenced to five years behind bars under unclear circumstances.

"The trial took place during the pandemic and officers handling the case told me that it had been put on hold due to COVID-19. As far I was concerned Joseph was still not convicted; I only found out this year that he had been incarcerated in June 2021," she said.

"Alifungwa miaka tano; yuko karibu kutoka na mimi nahofia maisha yangu."