Of a used condom, blood-stained towel and knife: Inside Scarlet Wahu's deadly scuffle

A blood-stained knife, condom, white towel, two used HIV test kits, and now damning DNA evidence, the High Court has heard chilling forensic testimony linking prime suspect John Matara to the brutal killing of socialite Scarlet Wahu inside an Airbnb.

The items, collected from Room Y32 at Papino apartments in South B, were tabled in Milimani High Court as the prosecution sought to connect Matara to the gruesome scene where the 24-year-old lost her life on the night of January 3, 2024.

On February 10, 2026, government forensic analyst Emily Okworo narrated to the court how laboratory tests linked blood samples recovered from the Airbnb to Wahu’s body.

She revealed that semen extracted from a used condom found at the scene matched Matara’s DNA profile.

Recovered items

According to Okworo, she analysed multiple items recovered by the police, including the knife, towel, used and unused condoms, HIV test kits, undergarments, syringes, women’s shoes, and mobile phones.

Traces of blood matching Matara’s DNA were also found on the knife and the white towel, confirming earlier testimony of South B hospital nurses and staff that he was injured during an altercation, as he had severe wounds on his legs.

“The blood samples collected from Room Y32 were compared to known samples from the deceased and the suspect. There is a clear match linking Mr Matara to the scene,” she testified.

Under intense cross-examination by defence lawyers Samuel Ayora and James Mochere, Okworo remained unshakeable.

She maintained that traces of blood matching Matara’s profile were also detected on some specimens - revelations the defence seized upon, insisting their client may have been injured during the incident, perhaps in self-defence. The prosecution produced a damning collection of personal effects that told the story of a life interrupted mid-stride.

Police Constable Allan Njoka, a scene-of-crime officer attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Dagorreti, also shared his first moments inside the apartment.

He presented in court 21 photographs, each one a frozen moment documenting the horror inside Room Y32.

ALSO READ: Nairobi court told how Starlet Wahu murder suspect fled Airbnb in blood-soaked towel

“I arrived at the scene at around 2:30am after a call from Chief Inspector Margaret Ndwati. Room Y32’s door was closed and had to be forced open. Inside, the scene was horrifying, blood on the walls, floors, and a white towel soaked in blood,” Njoka told the court.

He photographed 21 pieces of evidence and images he captured, painting a picture of violence and desperation.

Murder weapon

The images included the used condom, an empty packet, the kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon, hidden behind the sofa, and a blood-soaked towel. Other items recovered included Wahu’s passport, her mobile phone, an empty bottle of Hunters Whiskey, a black handbag, black open heels, a black wig, a black cap, syringes and tablets. 

But it was the photos of Wahu herself that brought the brutal reality home.

Three photographs depicted Wahu’s body near the door, face down in a squatting position with a deep stab wound on her right thigh, bruising on her legs, and facial trauma.

“Photo 15 is a close-up view of the right leg showing a deep stab wound on the thigh. This injury was significant.”

Njoka noted ten fingernail marks on her neck, suggesting she had fought desperately for her life. The walls was splattered with blood, and bloodstained tissue lay scattered.

Joseph Ndung’u, a security guard at a nearby apartment, provided testimony that would prove crucial in establishing the timeline of events.

He told the court that he saw Matara leaving Papino apartments wearing bloodstained khaki trousers and a white towel wrapped around his neck, hours before the deceased was found dead.

The image, a man casually walking out of a building in blood-soaked clothing, seemed almost surreal. But it was corroborated by what happened next.

At approximately 10pm that same night, Rahma Abdul Muthoni was working her shift as a receptionist at South B Hospital when an injured man stumbled in, wrapped in a white towel soaked in blood, seeking medical attention.

“He was bleeding from his arms and legs. He was placed on an emergency bed,” Rahma testified, her account painting a picture of a man desperately seeking medical attention for wounds that were still fresh.

When asked for his details, the man identified himself as Fredrick Opondo, aged 36, a false name, as events would later reveal.

He was, Rahma recalled, “kind of rude” when staff asked about his relatives.

“He was rude and evasive, the nurse asked about his relatives or mother, but he said he had none nearby. He also said he does not have a wife,” Rahma testified.

Matara claimed he had been attacked by thugs and rescued by boda boda riders, a narrative that would quickly unravel. The court heard that since the patient had deep wounds, the doctor at the facility referred him to Mbagathi Hospital for further treatment.

In a bid to hide his identity, Matara paid Sh2,000 in blood-stained cash for treatment, with the balance of Sh500 settled via M-Pesa sent by a man named Anthony.

Then came the moment that would seal his fate. At around 11:20pm, a watchman from Papino apartments arrived at the hospital, asking whether an injured man had been brought in.

The guard informed medics that he was suspicious of a man who had left the apartment. 

Perhaps the most devastating testimony came not from forensic scientists or crime scene investigators, but from Corporal Horace Arwa of South B Police Station, the arresting officer who found Matara receiving treatment for his wounds hours after Wahu’s body was discovered.

What Corporal Arwa revealed shook the courtroom. Despite his formal not-guilty plea entered on February 2, 2024, Matara had allegedly confessed to him that he had stabbed Wahu on the thigh.

“My lord, I directly asked him why he had killed the lady he was with at the apartment. I asked him if he knew the lady. He identified her as Starlet, whom he claimed was his girlfriend,” Corporal Arwa told Justice Alexander Muteti.

“Upon further interrogation, the accused person said that all he could remember was that they had a scuffle with the lady, and he stabbed her on the right thigh,” he added.

The officer noted that he could not continue with the interrogation as nurses were attending to Matara’s multiple stab wounds.

The accused, it seemed, had not emerged from the encounter unscathed.

Former government pathologist Dr Peter Ndegwa’s testimony removed any lingering doubt over what killed Scarlet Wahu.

On January 5, 2024, Dr Ndegwa performed a postmortem at City Mortuary on Wahu’s body, which was identified by her brother, Julius Njoroge and uncle Richard Mwangi.

“The deceased had ten fingernail markings on her neck, bruises on her face, and a penetrating stab wound on the thigh,” Dr Ndegwa testified.

“The body was very pale, indicating massive blood loss,” he added.

The pathologist also noted bruises on her left hand and trauma on the right side of her head. 

When asked whether the thigh injury was fatal, Dr Ndegwa was unequivocal: “Yes. She died of excessive bleeding from that wound. It was the cause of death.”

Injured blood vessels

The stab wound to the thigh, the same wound Matara allegedly admitted to inflicting, had severed a major blood vessel.

ALSO READ: Starlet Wahu's tragic tale of fame, faith and consequences

Wahu had essentially bled out while locked inside Room Y32, unable to escape, and unable to call for help.

Another key prosecution witness, Jane Wairimu Mutugi, an Airbnb operator and salon owner, recounted how a normal booking would turn tragic. 

On January 3, 2024, around 5pm, she received a call from an unknown number. The caller was looking for an Airbnb and insisted on a unit with a balcony. They switched to WhatsApp, and he asked for photos of available rooms. The caller, whom she later identified as Matara, paid Sh3,200 in cash for Room Y32 at Papino apartments.

Wairimu instructed her cleaner, Angelica, to collect the money. Everything seemed normal.

“All seemed normal until around 9:00pm when I received a call from the house owner. She said the guest had left the building wearing a towel soaked in blood,” Wairimu testified.

When they arrived at the apartment, the door to the room was locked from the inside with a padlock.

Officers had to break in. What Wairimu saw upon entering would stay with her forever.

“From where I stood, I could see blood everywhere inside the house. The woman was squatting near the door, her face down,” she told the court, her testimony painting a picture that needed no embellishment.

On February 11, 2026, the investigating officer, Alex Cholera, took the stand and provided a comprehensive inventory of what was recovered from Room Y32.

Inside a black handbag, the officer found Wahu’s passport, two mobile phones, one Samsung, another with no visible make, HIV test kits, and personal items that spoke to her last hours alive.

Cholera collected blood swabs from inside the room and outside. After the exhibits were collected, the body was removed to City Mortuary by officers from Industrial Area Police Station.

CCTV evidence

But the investigating officer was not done. He proceeded to the apartment complex's CCTV room, and what he found there was crucial.

“Upon checking the CCTV, I noticed someone escaping from house number Y32,” he testified.

Cholera interviewed Florence Ngina, the owner of the Airbnb, who confirmed the room had been booked by a person known as John Matara.

She had brought a spare key because the house was locked from the inside with a padlock, and the key was nowhere to be found.

The CCTV footage was forwarded to DCI headquarters, where images were extracted and later produced in court.

The clothes and items recovered were taken to the government chemist for analysis.

Matara was eventually arrested at Mbagathi Hospital, where he had been referred for treatment of his deep wounds.

Pleaded not guilty

Curiously, Cholera admitted under cross-examination that he did not know who had locked the door from inside, a detail the defence may well seize upon as they attempt to construct an alternative narrative of events.

Matara has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, but the prosecution’s case relies heavily on forensic evidence, CCTV footage, and witness testimony.

The Milimani High Court continues to hear the case as legal teams dissect every detail of the night that ended in tragedy.

What began as a simple Airbnb booking has since evolved into a high-profile trial, exposing the dark intersection of ordinary lives and extraordinary crime.

A knife, a towel, a condom, and DNA now tell a story that words alone cannot.