How British Soldiers "Joked and Laughed" on Facebook About Kenyan Woman's Murder

It is now emerging that British soldiers laughed about the death of Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru, who was killed nine years ago.

It is suspected that the 21-year-old sex worker was murdered by a British soldier at Lions Court Inn Hotel in Nanyuki on the night of March 31st, 2012.

The Sunday Times reported that a soldier in the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment posted two photos from outside the hotel where Wanjiru’s body was discovered.

The soldier captioned the photos “If you know, you know” with a crying laughter emoji and tagged a number of his colleagues.

The UK publication reports that several soldiers reacted to the Facebook post, with one posting a ghost emoji while another commented “septic tank”. A third wrote ‘Rum gaff’ meaning dodgy place.

Soldier X, who is alleged to have killed Wanjiru, posted an emoji of an angel. Other soldiers then responded with crying-laughing emojis, followed by a cartoon of a baby crying at a funeral, from TV show Family Guy. 

One of the soldiers allegedly asked Soldier X if he gets “all choked up thinking about that place”—an apparent reference to allegations that he chocked Wanjiru do death during sex. Soldier X replied: “Come to think of it I have had a sore throat today.”

A soldier who was interviewed by The Sunday Times denied laughing at the murder, saying he did not actually believe that soldier X was a killer.

“If I was laughing, I was probably laughing at the night, because it was a bit of a crazy night. There was loads of women,” he said.

“I don’t think I was laughing at that [a murder]. The rumour I heard is that somebody had sex with a prostitute, and the sex went wrong. To be honest I didn’t even believe it.”

Soldier X declined to comment when he was presented with the Facebook posts.

The lifeless body of Wanjiru was discovered inside a septic tank at Lions Court Inn Hotel in Nanyuki, two months after her disappearance. On the night she went missing, Wanjiru was at the hotel where tens of British soldiers were drinking beer, dancing, and having sex with local women. 

Wanjiru reportedly left the seating area in the company of one of the British soldiers and that was the last time she was seen alive.

Investigations established that Wanjiru, who left behind a five-month-old daughter, was stabbed to death and also suffered a blunt force injury to her chest, with her lungs collapsing.

The deceased was trying to support her baby while living with her sister in a single room in the Majengo slums in Nanyuki.

Wanjiru's family claims Kenyan and British authorities staged a cover-up on the murder to maintain diplomatic relations over the Nanyuki army base, where the UK sends six infantry battalions for eight-week exercises annually.

The Sunday Times established that five soldiers gave the same name of the officer, saying that on the fateful night, he showed them the body of the woman which was stashed in a tank. 

A soldier of the Duke of Lancaster regiment said the murder suspect showed him the body of Wanjiru after a night of drunken debauchery. 

“He took me to the tank and lifted it up, and I looked in and I just remember seeing her in there. My heart sank. My mind just went blank. The only thing I could say to him was: 'I'll never forgive you for this,'' he is quoted by the publication.