Detectives suspect the killing of Rita Waeni Muendo was one of ongoing occultism in the country.
Occultism is one of the leading causes of murder in the country. The investigations team said it’s part of the theories it's following up on as a motive of the cold-blood murder.
“It looks like a ritual which I think was motivated by a cult-like belief,” said an officer aware of the issue.
The investigations team wants to know if there are more such killings.
Two months ago, a body had been found in the area where the head of Waeni was found and the matter remains unsolved, hence the need to expand the probe, the official said.
This came as the family of Waeni on Monday partially identified her head at the City Mortuary.
They identified a blouse that had been used to wrap the head recovered from a dam in Kiambaa, Kiambu county.
Also found in the blouse was her finger which was missing. Even though they could not physically tell the head belonged to Waeni, they said the forehead, although decomposing, resembled hers.
This, according to police was a step forward in efforts to solve the mystery murder of Waeni at an apartment in Roysambu on January 13.
The family visited Karuri police station where the purple blouse that Waeni wore the day she went missing and was killed, was kept and identified it.
The dismembered body of Waeni was found in a dustbin at an apartment on TRM Drive, Kasarani, but her head was missing.
Police had said her head had been recovered at a dam in Kiambu on Sunday.
This left the detectives with half answers. It was announced a postmortem and DNA tests will provide further identification of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology student.
An autopsy on the head was planned for Tuesday but was moved to Thursday. This is after detectives from the homicide at DCI said they were not ready for the exercise. The human head was found floating in Ite Dam at Kimuga village, Kimuga sublocation, Kiambaa location by locals.
On Sunday, two Nigerians were arrested over links to the murder hours after the discovery of the head. A hatchet, butcher’s knife, a national identity card belonging to Omar Mwamkwaju Juma, six mobile phones, three laptops, 10 SIM cards from different teleco service providers and other items, were recovered at the house where the two suspects were living.
A court on Monday allowed police to hold the Nigerians for eight days pending probe on their possible involvement in the murder.
Police said the two Nigerians are William Ovie Opia whose passport is expired and Johnbull Asbor who did not have any travel documents at the time of his arrest. Asbor told the detectives that he lost his passport two years ago.
The suspects were traced by the DCI detectives to an apartment in Ndenderu in Kiambu county.
Police told the court they wanted adequate time for the suspects' DNA to be taken and analysed at the Government Chemist for comparison against the samples extracted from the scene of crime.
The duo will be in custody until January 31. Police said Opia bought a hatchet from an online vendor and told investigators that he had bought it for self-defense.
It is not clear if the tool was used in the murder. A postmortem conducted on January 19, showed Waeni had missing fingernails.
"This person tried to clip off the fingernails for reasons which I might not be able to know but for us scientists, when we see fingernails clipped off, we think probably the person was trying to hide evidence so that we are unable to get his DNA from the victim," government pathologist Johansen Oduor said.
"In investigations, such nails help in gathering evidence. People fight when dying and DNA evidence can be hidden there," he said.
Oduor however said there were remnants of some fingernails, and that samples were taken for further analysis to help police in their investigations.
The autopsy confirmed that the body was dismembered with the head chopped off and the legs also cut away from the trunk.
"The skin looks like it was cut with a sharp object but the bone was sawed off with what looks like a hacksaw. This is the first time I'm seeing something like this. In my forensic life, I have never come across such an incident, Oduor said.
The pathologists picked samples from kidney, stomach, vagina and blood for toxicology analysis at government chemist to ascertain if there were substances introduced to the body.
This is after police suspected the woman was drugged before being murdered.
The family said the killer had demanded a ransom of Sh500,000 to spare Waeni's life.
It also emerged the killer had sent a picture to the family using Waeni's mobile phone as part of efforts to push them send the money he had demanded.
According to the family, she left her aunt's residence in Syokimau to meet with a friend.
They said at around 5 am on January 14, her father received a message, delivered from her phone number, demanding the ransom within 24 hours for the release of the student.
“With this message, the family reported the matter to the police and DCI, and investigations began,” the statement said.
They said an additional two messages were sent to the family demanding the ransom. “Unfortunately, the family did not get further details about the ransom or an opportunity to explore this route.
Additionally, some demands were made when she had already been murdered,” the family said.
"We believe she was lured by her killer, who also tried to extort money from her family, even after killing her,” the family added.
They described her as “an intelligent, smart girl beyond her age at the very start of her youth, who was known for her kindness, laughter, and ability to light up any room she entered.”