In a dramatic turn, a senior DCI officer has surrendered to police after allegedly stabbing his wife to death in their Roysambu apartment, capping a frantic two-day manhunt.
Daniel Macharia, attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road, turned himself in at Naivasha Police Station on the evening of Tuesday, March 3. He was held at Naivasha cells and expected to be transferred to Kasarani Police Station in Nairobi today for processing and possible arraignment.
The victim, 43-year-old Florence Nyagah, a salon operator in the Roysambu area, was found dead inside their second-floor apartment at Faiths Apartments (Room B205) along Lumumba Drive. Her body was discovered lying on its back in the sitting room with three stab wounds to the left side of the chest and a deep open wound on the forehead. A blood-stained knife missing its handle – believed to be the murder weapon – was recovered hidden beneath a kitchen table.
The Roysambu stabbing unfolded over the weekend. Nyagah was last in contact with her daughter via video call around 3:41pm on Saturday, February 28. When she stopped responding to calls, the daughter visited the apartment the following morning, Sunday, March 1, and made the horrific discovery. A relative, Zackary Nyagah, reported the matter to Kasarani Police Station, prompting officers, DCI detectives, and crime scene investigators to secure the scene. The body was moved to the mortuary for a post-mortem.
Detectives established that Macharia was the last person seen with Nyagah and that the couple had been experiencing issues in their marriage. He allegedly fled the scene immediately after the incident, triggering a targeted manhunt by Nairobi detectives before his surprise surrender in Naivasha.
This DCI officer wife killing has sent shockwaves across Kenya, coming amid growing concerns over domestic violence and femicide cases. Investigations are ongoing, and Macharia is expected to face murder charges once transferred and formally processed.
The case highlights the irony of a law enforcement officer allegedly committing such a heinous crime in the very system he served. Police have urged anyone with information to come forward as they piece together the final hours leading to Florence Nyagah’s death.
