NAIROBI, Kenya — Postmortem examinations on bodies recovered from shallow graves in Mwingi, Kitui County, have revealed evidence of violent deaths, including strangulation, stabbing, and blunt force trauma, raising fresh questions about the circumstances surrounding the killings.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor disclosed the findings on Tuesday after conducting autopsies on the remains, which had been transferred from Kitui to Nairobi for forensic examination.
The bodies were discovered earlier this month near Kasina Primary School in Mwingi town after residents noticed human remains protruding from a shallow grave on June 9, prompting a police investigation.
Speaking after the examinations, Oduor said the remains were in an advanced state of decomposition, with some bodies partially skeletalised, complicating efforts to establish the precise causes of death.
“Our final analysis of the bodies, they were decomposed significantly, all of them, some with parts of the body becoming skeletalised,” he said.
Although authorities initially reported the recovery of seven bodies, pathologists treated the remains as eight separate cases because one victim’s head had been severed and recovered separately.
“So, in summary, we treated them as eight bodies because one had a detached head, which had been cut separately,” Oduor explained.
The examinations established that two of the victims died from strangulation. One body showed a visible ligature mark around the neck, while another exhibited signs consistent with manual strangulation.
“One of them could find the ligature mark there on the neck, but the other one had just the mark of strangulation,” he said.
Pathologists also found that one victim suffered a fatal stab wound to the abdomen, while three others sustained head injuries associated with blunt force trauma.
“Three of them actually had a head injury. There were some signs of blunt trauma to the head,” Oduor said.
However, investigators were unable to determine the cause of death in two cases because decomposition had progressed too far.
“Two, we were unable to ascertain the cause of death because of decomposition,” he said.
The findings have strengthened suspicions that several of the victims were killed through acts of violence. Oduor noted that both strangulation and stabbing generally point to intentional human action.
“You cannot strangle yourself. You can only hang yourself, but this was strangulation,” he said.
While investigators have not yet identified the victims, preliminary assessments suggest the bodies may have been buried for as long as three months.
“From the casual look, I can say the last three months,” Oduor said.
Forensic teams have collected samples for DNA profiling and toxicological analysis to establish the identities of the victims and determine whether any substances may have contributed to the deaths.
Because no relatives have come forward to claim the remains, authorities are currently treating the victims as unidentified persons.
“Because nobody has come up to claim these bodies, we usually treat them as unknown,” Oduor said.
He urged families with missing relatives to submit DNA samples to assist investigators in matching identities and advancing the inquiry.
The bodies are expected to be returned to Mwingi and preserved pending identification and further investigations.
Oduor also dismissed speculation that the bodies had been preserved using formalin or other chemicals before burial, saying the extent of decomposition showed there had been no attempt to halt the natural process.
“Looking at those bodies, there’s no arrest of decomposition, so none of them had preservatives put on them,” he said.
The grim discovery has shocked residents of Mwingi and intensified calls for a thorough investigation to identify the victims, establish the motive behind the killings, and bring those responsible to justice.
