Police officer shoots, kills girlfriend, her friend at Kanyonyoo market
Eastern
By
Philip Muasya and Hudson Gumbihi
| Aug 05, 2025
Traders and residents at the busy Kanyonyoo market in Kitui County are still reeling in shock following the brutal murder of two women by a police officer on Sunday night.
Constable Bernard Siambe is now being hunted after being linked to the murder of his girlfriend, Joy Mutisya, and her friend, only identified as Judy.
According to Stanley Kiilu, the chairman of the Kanyonyoo business community who operates a butchery in the trading centre, the police officer based at the local police station was on duty with a colleague guarding Kenzi petrol station within the town.
At around 11 pm, Kiilu said a group of people came running to his eatery and told him that a police officer had shot two women in a nearby bar.
“I immediately closed my business and rushed there, only to find two women sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood,” Kiilu told journalists yesterday.
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The businessman stated that the police officer, who had been at the station for barely five months, had during the day engaged in a quarrel with his girlfriend and was seen drinking at a local pub.
It was later in the day when he returned to Kanyonyoo Police Station and was assigned night duties at the report desk that he allegedly sneaked back to the market armed with an AK47 and sprayed his girlfriend with bullets, killing her on the spot.
Judy, who tried to defend the victim, was also gunned down. The officer then fled on foot.
Maureen, a friend of Judy, said she was shocked and disheartened by the killing.
“Judy has left behind a four-year-old child. My heart is broken, what will I tell the child?” she sobbed.
Siambe is said to have traced Joy to Password Bar where he found her in the company of Judy and opened fire without warning.
Another trader at the market, identified as Ndambuki Ndolo, said the rogue policeman spent the better part of Sunday afternoon drinking at a local bar.
Kitui Central Deputy Sub-County Criminal Investigations Officer (SCCIO) John Gacheru told the media that a manhunt for the officer had been launched.
“He is still on the run, but we shall get him,” Gacheru said.
After committing the double murder, the officer is said to have telephoned his OCS, informing him where to find the murder weapon before switching off his phone and escaping towards Matuu town. The AK47 rifle was later recovered in a thicket.
Meanwhile, in Nairobi, a senior officer was attacked by a robber on the same night as he drove along North Airport Road.
John Ruto, the OCS of Villa Police Station in Embakasi, was left injured by the assailant who grabbed his Xiaomi mobile phone valued at Sh95,000.
According to colleagues, Ruto was blocked by a vehicle before a man—who turned out to be a thug—alighted from the said vehicle while armed with a crude weapon, which he used to hit the Chief Inspector on the head.
During the ensuing struggle, the OCS reached for his gun, firing in the air in a bid to deter the assailant, who nonetheless managed to snatch the officer’s phone.
The assailant fled on foot, abandoning the car in the middle of the road. The vehicle was later towed to Kware Police Station.
Embakasi Deputy Sub-County Police Commander Abdilaliff Abdikadir said the matter has been taken over by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who are trying to establish what could have transpired.