The DCI’s Homicide Unit detectives have now turned their focus on the last 12 hours of Matthew Wandati, a Strathmore University student who was found dead at a Nairobi nightclub on Valentine’s Day.

This comes after a second post-mortem ruled out strangulation as the possible cause of his death but maintained his death was due to blunt force trauma.

The first post-mortem said that Wandati died as a result of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.

The second exercise was conducted at a city funeral home in late February by Government Pathologist Dr Richard Njoroge, Dr Emily Rogena, the head of the Homicide Unit Martin Nyuguto, and other detectives from the unit.

The report seen by Sunday Standard notes that Wandati’s chest had injuries consistent with resuscitation.

“Bruising of the left thoracic wall muscles? Precordial massage due to resuscitation),” the report reads.

It goes on to say that his hand and toe nails had cyanotic changes, meaning they lacked enough oxygen from the blood, while his lips appeared leathery and his upper and lower limbs appeared symmetrical.

Detectives are pursuing the possibility that the deceased could have incurred some of the injuries during the day before he made his way into the club.

Wandati was with his friends at Masshouse Club on the night of February 14 and remained there until early morning.

It has not been established when and why his friends left the club, leaving him behind before his body was found unresponsive around 5am the following day.

A statement from one of the individuals questioned by police over the death indicates that after Wandati was found unresponsive, plain-clothes police officers who happened to be at the club, as well as the staff, called an ambulance.

Medics arrived at the scene around 20 minutes later, according to the statements submitted to the police.

“The paramedics tried to resuscitate him but to no avail. He was soon pronounced dead,” the statement to the police reads.

The post-mortem examination found no injury to the larynx, hyoid bone, or neck muscles—common indicators in cases involving manual strangulation, as had been earlier alluded to on various social media posts.

Investigators are now trying to piece together the last 12 to 18 hours of the deceased’s life, including going through street cameras to trace his movements as well as reviewing CCTV footage from the other places Wandati had visited before his death.

At least seven people have recorded statements, including Masshouse staff, two women, and a gentleman who is believed to have been with Wandati on the fateful night.
So far, no arrests have been made.

The postmortem report also reveals kidney, liver, and gall bladder samples were submitted to the DCI for further tests and provided to a pathologist on behalf of the club for their independent analysis.

Wandati, buried two weeks ago, described himself as a student with a passion for deep learning and AI, always curious and eager to expand his skills.

“I love diving into new challenges, whether solving complex problems or learning the latest advancements in AI. I’m driven by a desire to grow and collaborate with others to create impactful solutions,” he described himself on one of his social media accounts.

After closing since Wandati’s lifeless body was discovered, the club resumed operation on March 5.

“The management of Masshouse wishes to inform our patrons that we have resumed full operation following the clearance from investigating agencies,” the club said in a statement.

It added that the safety of its patrons is a priority and that they were reviewing security protocols to ensure a safe experience.

“Since the unfortunate event on the night of February 14th, we have fully cooperated with the authorities by pricing access to CCTV footage and statements by staff as and when requested.”