Suspect in KNH Ward Murder Had Been Discharged Months Earlier

Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) has released new details concerning the shocking murder of a patient within its facility, revealing that the prime suspect had been discharged months earlier but continued residing at the hospital.

In a Friday statement, KNH disclosed that the suspect was a long-term patient first admitted to the ICU in November 2022. Later transferred to a general ward, the man remained at KNH despite being medically discharged due to homelessness and an unknown identity. Attempts to trace his background through fingerprints and social media proved unsuccessful.

In June 2024, the hospital arranged a home for him, but he was readmitted in December after falling ill and was again discharged in January 2025. However, the facility declined to take him back, forcing KNH to house him while seeking alternatives. Matters worsened after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) flagged him in February 2025 as a suspect in the murder of Gilbert Kinyua, advising KNH to hold him pending investigations.

The situation escalated on Thursday, July 17, when Edward Maingi Ndegwa, a patient admitted on July 11, was found murdered in Ward 7B. A cleaner discovered blood from the victim’s neck around 2:00 p.m., prompting an immediate police response. Investigators followed bloody slipper prints leading to a side room occupied by the suspect. There, they recovered a pair of slippers, a blood-stained bedsheet, and a knife wrapped in gloves.

The suspect was arrested that evening and is now in DCI custody.

KNH emphasized it had no intention of indefinitely hosting the suspect, but with no other options and pending official direction, the hospital was compelled to keep him temporarily. Investigations are ongoing.