Thread: GA-Murder of Kenyan woman, daughters still unsolved

Murder of Kenyan woman, daughters still unsolved


By YOLANDA RODRIGUEZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 08/01/08

The calls stopped coming within a few months of their deaths. But last year's murders of Jane Kuria and her teenage daughters haunt the people who knew them.

The bodies of Kuria and her daughters, Isabela, 19, and Annabelle, 16, were found Aug. 1, 2007, in their home in the Country Cove neighborhood in Powder Springs.

Please help


If you have information on the murders of Jane Kuria and her daughters Isabela, 19, and Annabelle, 16, police ask that you call any one of these numbers:
Powder Springs Police Department: 888-322-8884 or 770- 943-1616
Cobb County Police Department: 770-499-3045


Jane Kuria's son, Jeremy, who was 7, and his cousin Peter Thande, who was 10, were found in the home, beaten, but still alive.

The boys recovered, and Jeremy attends school in Cobb County, said Elizabeth Mungai, Jane's best friend.

Both boys "are doing good," Mungai said.

But Jeremy doesn't remember too much of what happened, she said.

"Every day, we are hoping the police will tell us something," Mungai said.

Investigators in Powder Springs consider the triple murders a cold case, said Detective Kelly Gobely, a spokeswoman for the Powder Springs Police Department.

"Calls came in for several months," Gobely said. "Come a certain point, it just stopped. ... Without tips, there's nothing else we can do. It's stagnant."

But for Cobb detectives, who are assisting Powder Springs, it is still an active case, said Sgt. Dana Pierce.

"As complex and complicated as this case is, it can be frustrating for investigators. [And] from a human standpoint, it's frustrating to detectives," said Pierce, a Cobb police spokesman. "But, at the same time, we are continuing to look at all leads."

Pierce said forensic evidence was sent to an out-of-state lab for more detailed examination.

"We don't want any stone unturned, any fiber unexamined," he said.

Pierce said the U.S. State Department assisted local law enforcement in following up on leads in the family's native Kenya.

Kuria left Kenya in 2001 after the death of her husband and the destruction of their home, said Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck.

She applied for asylum in the United States because she was afraid her daughters would have to undergo female circumcision. But the application had been denied. Kuck was handling Kuria's appeal.

"Jane was an extraordinary woman who had succeeded despite the odds against her," Kuck said. "She had really begun to live the American Dream."

She arrived in Georgia in 2002. Cobb property records show she bought her house in 2005.

Kuria's home, a yellow, split-level house on a quiet cul-de-sac, has been empty since the murders. A buyer is scheduled to close on it sometime this month, Mungai said.

For months after the murders, neighbors cut the grass on the property, said Robin Riechman, 45, who became friends with the Kuria family.

"It's upsetting that no one's been arrested, and it's frightening that something like this could happen so close to home to people that you know," Riechman said.

Riechman's husband helped Kuria hang curtains.

Jane insisted that the curtains cover all of her windows — even the big ones right above her front door, although no one could see through those.

Riechman thought it was just odd.

"I don't know what she was afraid of," Riechman said. "And, maybe, I read more into that than there is because of what happened."

Riechman's husband built a wooden barricade around the utility box that sits on the Kuria property because her guests backed into it every now and then — knocking out power to nearby homes.

The two women talked about gardening.

Kuria visited often and they talked about her job as a nursing assistant.

She had three jobs at one point, but quit one because she was exhausted, Riechman said.

"She was just a really nice person. She was really smart," Riechman said. "She was a good mom. The kids respected her."

The murders changed the neighborhood — now everyone notices any strangers in the area, she said.

"I think there's probably people that know something about this, but are afraid to speak about it. I don't think it was random," Riechman said. "... I would love to see this solved. It's a horrible thought to know that the people that did this are still out walking around. And whatever the reason that they did it, you know, they need to go to jail."


http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/ ... urder.html

I know this is an older post, but I'm trying to understand why this was ever posted here at all?

I am the neighbor quoted in the article above. Jane was a dear friend. This month marked three years since she and her daughters were murdered, and no one has been arrested and it seems, the case has gone cold. There is no excuse.

Yes, they were immigrants. And they were legal. And they were trying to make their residency permanent, and they were doing it in the ways folks are supposed to do it.

If you read this, understand that people who come here from other countries aren't here just to bilk those who were born here out of their "birthright." Many are very decent people who work multiple jobs to make a life in the land of opportunity and should be afforded all the protection and the same diligence from law enforcement that any one of us who was born here expects.

Remember that whoever broke into their home and brutally beat three of them to death and left two small boys beaten and left for dead is still walking around free.
Thanks.