Pathologists Report – Joannah Stutchbury Shot Six Times

Conservationist Joannah Stutchbury who was murdered outside her home last week (see below) was shot six times not three as originally reported.

A postmortem carried out by the Chief Government Patholist Johansen Odour has revealed Stutchbury was shot in the head and upper limbs.

Dr Johansen is reported to have said that the bullet wounds on Stutchbury’s upper limbs indicated she had struggled with her attackers. Gun powder deposits on her skin also suggested she had been shot at close range.

President Kenyatta’s Response

President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered the security services to track down the murderers of conservation activist Joannah Stutchbury who was shot dead outside her house in Kiambu last Thursday.

President Kenyatta said, “It is very sad, unfortunate and regrettable that bad people have senselessly taken away the life of Joannah Stutchbury in such a senseless manner.”

Samson Kiptum from the Kiambu County Directorate of Criminal Investigation, told the media that Ms Stutchbury was returning to her home in the Mushroom Garden Estate in Kiambu when she got out of her car to move the branch of a tree that was laying in front of the gate, whereupon she was shot three times in the head.

The police revealed that Ms Stutchbury was shot once in the chin and twice in the neck. Police have found spent cartridges at the scene.

There is some evidence of a struggle having taken place.

“She had bruises on her right hand”, a police spokesman told the media. “This could be an indication she tried to fight off the attackers and that’s why they shot her through the chin before firing more after she fell down”.

There is reportedly no sign that Ms Stutchbury was robbed.

Joannah Stutchbury Staunch Environmental Activist

Stutchbury was a staunch campaigner against environmental degradation of the Kiambu Forest near her home.

A trained journalist, Stutchbury came to prominence in 2018 when she stopped a group that wanted to re-channel a wetland by building an access road to the Kiambu Forest.

In a famous photograph that went viral, Ms Stutchbury was seen sitting in a digger bucket that was preparing to clear the wetland.

Keyatta: Joannah a “Steadfast Champion”

President Kenyatta said, “For the longest time, Joannah has been a steadfast champion of our environment and is remembered for her relentless efforts to protect Kiambu Forest from encroachment.”

In recent years Ms Stutchbury had worked with GreenWalk and other environmental campaign groups to conserve the water catchment area.

In the last days of her life, Joannah Stutchbury had been trying to form the Kiambu Forest Community Association with Greenwalk Kenya.

Three conservationists over the years have been murdered when defending Kenya’s wildlife. Joy Adamson was killed in 1980, Joan Roots in 2006 and Esmond Bradley-Martin in 2006. There murders remain unsolved.