Police have arrested the main suspect in the 2024 killing of a senior police officer in Laikipia County, ending a manhunt that lasted two years and nine months.
Onesmas Kipkoech Tiony was arrested on Saturday, November 14, 2026, during a joint security operation. He had been on the run since February 2024, when Inspector Prosper Ojiambo Wandera, then Deputy Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Rumuruti Police Station, was killed.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the attack occurred on February 16, 2024, in the Maundu Meri area of Rumuruti town.
Residents and police officers who rushed to the scene found Inspector Wandera lying in a pool of blood. A postmortem examination later established that he had died from a deep stab wound to the left side of his chest.
The suspect fled immediately after the attack, prompting a search by law enforcement agencies across the region.
However, Homicide detectives continued investigating the case, gathering witness statements, following up on public tips and using forensic evidence to trace the suspect's movements.
Their investigations eventually led them to his hideout, where a joint team of Homicide detectives, officers from DCI Laikipia West and police officers from Rumuruti Police Station arrested him without incident on Saturday.
During the operation, officers also recovered a motorcycle believed to have been used by Tiony…
