The murder trial of socialite Scarlet Wahu took a dramatic turn in the High Court on Thursday, after accused John Matara Ongoa made startling claims about his relationship with the deceased in the lead-up to her death. Matara detailed his alleged role in managing an OnlyFans account he says Wahu used as a side income source. He claimed that, given his background in graphic design and computer programming, he would periodically help her with editing, uploading, managing, and optimising the account.
According to Matara, Wahu operated an account on OnlyFans.com, where she posted content as a side hustle. He told the court that the two had met before and allegedly had sexual encounters for a fee of Ksh50,000. Matara further claimed that he still owed Wahu, who is preacher Victor Kanyari's sister, more than Ksh30,000 from their two previous encounters. Matara's claims come after Justice Alexander Muteti ruled in May that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case against him.
Matara's account forms part of a broader defence narrative in which he claims he and Wahu had an established relationship involving financial arrangements, which he says is central to understanding the events of the night she died. He told the court that some of their encounters were recorded for the adult content platform OnlyFans. Matara also claimed that he had access to the account's login credentials, which he said were stored on a phone that was later confiscated and formatted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Matara is accused of murdering Wahu at an apartment in Nairobi's South B area in January 2024, after the pair allegedly checked into the premises together. He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial. The prosecution closed its case after presenting witnesses and evidence linking Matara to Wahu's killing, a case that sparked widespread public outrage and renewed national debate around violence against women.
Investigators had earlier told the court that Wahu was found with multiple stab wounds inside the apartment after reportedly spending time there with Matara on the night in question. Earlier in the trial, in February, forensic evidence took centre stage when a government analyst testified that DNA recovered from the South B apartment directly linked Matara to Wahu's killing.
Emily Okworo, a scientist with the Government Chemist, told the court that blood samples collected from the scene matched those obtained from Wahu's body during the post-mortem examination. "Upon conducting DNA analysis on the exhibits presented to me, I established that the blood stains on the knife and white towel matched the blood profile of Scarlet Wahu," Okworo testified.
The court heard that investigators had recovered a bloodstained kitchen knife and a blood-soaked white towel from the apartment where Wahu's body was found lying in a pool of blood. According to Okworo, laboratory tests confirmed the stains were human blood, and specifically matched the deceased. She further testified that semen recovered from a used condom found at the scene was subjected to DNA profiling, with results matching Matara's own DNA sample.
Key points
- Matara claims he managed Wahu's OnlyFans account and had login access.
- Matara and Wahu had an established relationship involving financial arrangements.
- DNA evidence links Matara to Wahu's killing.
