The High Court in Naivasha has temporarily lifted a warrant of arrest for a couple in the US facing charges of conspiring to murder five of their kin, including the mother.
High Court Judge Cecilia Githua granted a reprieve to Amos Wanjiru and his wife, Alice Muya, a couple of weeks after the lower court ordered their extradition to face the charges.
The two are jointly charged with their 73-year-old father, Francis Muya, with five counts of conspiracy to murder their family members.
The father, Muya, has already been charged that on diverse dates between March 1 and May 2, 2024, jointly with others not in court, hired killers at a cost of over Ksh.3m to murder his estranged wife, Rose Njeri Muya.
He also faces four other charges of conspiracy to murder Antony Mwaura, Martin Muya, Alex Muya and Oprah Muya, the farmers’ three sons and a daughter, respectively.
The defence counsel, Edwin Njagi, had gone to the High Court under a certificate of urgency, seeking orders to stop the arrest of the two, who have been accused of ignoring court summonses.
In a virtual session, Njagi argued that the lower court had erred by issuing the warrants of arrest for the couple before they had been served with a court summons.
He further noted that the magistrate’s court had granted the prosecution the liberty to commence extradition proceedings without giving his clients a chance to be heard.
This came as the victim’s advocate, Mbugua Macharia, made an application to be enjoined in the appeal, noting that there was another case pending in the lower courts.
In her ruling, Judge Cecelia Githua gave the victims seven days to file their application and further directed that the order lifting the arrest warrants stay for another 21 days.
In this case, the father, with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, allegedly hired killers to assist in getting rid of the family members so that they could take over the prime plot in Molo town.
According to documents filed in court, the plan started on the 1st of March 20204 when the father and his daughter allegedly met two killers in a hotel in Nakuru.
They settled for a fee of Ksh.3.1m and proceeded to get the cash through the father and daughter as the woman who lives in the US flew back.
The case will come up for hearing on July 29, 2026.
