Two accomplices of Kenya's most wanted criminal killed

Kenyan police confirmed Wednesday two accomplices of slain fugitive Simon Matheri are dead, hours after their ringleader was gunned down early Tuesday.

Police spokesman Gideon Kibunja said one of Matheri's accomplices hanged himself while another was lynched by villagers on Tuesday night.

Kibunja said the 35-year-old Laban Gatumbi Munga is said to have gone on a drinking spree the moment he learnt of Matheri's death and proceeded to hang himself at about 7 p.m. (1400GMT).

Kibunja said the deceased was among the most wanted gangsters that police were looking for in the area. Police had offered a reward of about 2,000 U.S. dollars for the capture of the criminals behind recent spate of murders and robberies.

"We understand he bought a rope in a nearby kiosk and went straight to where we are, and committed suicide," said Kibunja.

He said one of the accomplices learnt of Gathumbi's death and came to check, when villagers recognized him as part of Matheri's gang, they lynched him.

Relatives and police identified the second gangster as Gitau Ikere. Kenyans and especially villagers have celebrated the killings of the criminals. Nairobi has seen increased levels of robberies, murders and rapes recently.

On Monday night, some 100 heavily armed policemen killed Simon Matheri Ikere when they raided his house in Athi River about 30 km from the capital.

Kenyan police boss, Hussein Ali, said they caught up with the suspect after a tip-off by a member of the public.

Matheri was accused of killing two relatives of an American diplomat and a famous Kenyan medical researcher last month during armed robberies.

Matheri's wife, Felistus Wanjiru Matheri, said her husband did not have a gun when he left the house.

"I pleaded with him for the sake of our kids to give up," she said, adding that she did not know whether he was going to surrender when he did finally emerge from their house.

Six of the couple's children had been inside the house at the time of the killing. His wife, seven months pregnant, was being held in police custody.

"This should serve as a notice to his gang members that we shall be relentless in searching for them and ensure that they face the law," Ali said.

Security experts blame rising crime on the growing numbers of jobless youth and the unchecked flow of illegal guns into the country through Somalia and other unstable neighbors.

Source: Xinhua