A Nairobi court was Thursday, August 10, 2023, told that the late Jeff Mwathi had tried to kill himself twice before he met his death in February.
Lawyer Duncan Okatch representing Lawrence Njuguna’s alias DJ Fatxo, in whose house Jeff died, told the court that the estranged relationship between the interior designer’s parents affected the deceased.
The lawyer noted that there were witnesses who would testify that Jeff was suicidal because of his parent’s strained relationship.
The lawyer further said at one time Jeff would be stressed especially when drank and had a knife threatening to kill himself. Okatch pointed out that Jeff didn’t even have a belt or underwear at the time of his death.
Taking the stand, Jeff Mwathi’s uncle Muchoki Mwathi vehemently denies the allegations, saying he did not believe the parent’s relationship affected him.
He described Jeff as not someone who would resort to such an act.
Muchoki said apart from being his uncle, they were friends.
Muchoki told the court that he lived with his nephew(Jeff) in the village before he shifted to Nairobi to live with John Kirumba his young brother.
“I was shown the video and in my view, Jeff did not commit suicide,” Muchoki testified before Milimani principal magistrate Zainab Abdul.
“I was told that Jeff died in Fatxo’s house but in my opinion, he could not have jumped from the window unless he was forced through”, Muchoki stated.
“From the video, I saw Jeff’s body was discovered after Fatxo left an hour or so later and as a family we have lost a son who had a bright future ahead of him”, he added.
However, Muchoki said he didn’t know Jeff’s relationship with DJ Fatxo but one time he told him Fatxo had given him a shop to design and they were supposed to do it together
The uncle insisted that he never saw Jeff stressed.
“On February 22, 2023, I got a phone call from John at around 5:20 pm informing me that he was tensed because Jeff was not answering calls, he told me that he was called by Jeff’s girlfriend Faith Wairimu telling him that she was called by Faith Mutanu asking her if Jeff got home”, Muchoki told the court.
Jeff’s girlfriend Faith had asked what to do since she did not find him in her house. He was later informed that he had jumped to his death from the 10th floor of DJ Fatxo’s house.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) recommended an inquest into Jeff’s death, saying there was no evidence linking Faxto to his friend’s death.
The state will be calling 34 more witnesses to testify in the inquest. The hearing continues on November 1.
