‘I did not steal dead man’s heart,’ says former gov’t pathologist

Former Chief Government pathologist Dr. Moses Njue has denied allegations that he stole the heart of an elderly man, after a controversial postmortem examination.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board is probing Dr. Njue after the man’s family accused him of stealing the heart to conceal his alleged murder.

Speaking to Citizen TV on phone, Dr. Njue, who now heads the Embu Level Five Hospital, denied the allegations, saying that they were instituted by individuals within the sector who have been ruffled by his decisions at the helm of the provincial referral facility.

“The claims are motivated by malice. Due to my uncompromising approach to issues I have made a lot of enemies,” he said.

Njue also denied taking Karau’s heart for histology as claimed, adding that he is yet to get the letter from the board.

“I never said I took the heart for histology as alleged by the family,” he added.

“I feel offended. I haven’t received any letter from the board. No one not even the police have contacted me.”

He maintains that after conducting the autopsy, it was the responsibility of morticians to deal with body parts that are usually removed during such examinations.

It is a bizarre story laced with claims of a conspiracy, a divided polygamous family, and the sharing of family land.

On March 11, 2015 at Consolata Mission Hospital in Nkubu, Meru County, Dr. Njue and Dr. Scolastica Kimani of Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital conducted a postmortem examination on the body of Benedict Karau who had died in controversial circumstances.

After the post-mortem, Dr. Kimani and Dr Njue, who was representing one side of the family, agreed that Mr. Karau, who passed on in the house of his second wife, had died of a heart attack.

The sons of the second wife believed that the exam reflected the true cause of death and Karau was laid to rest. However, sons of Karau’s first wife suspected foul play.

Led by Charles Mwongela, one of his sons, they obtained a court order to exhume the body following claims that a commotion had been reported in the homestead on the night Karau died.

The repeat autopsy conducted by Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor was largely inconclusive as much of the interior body organs had decomposed.

It however revealed what the family claims is calculated intention to conceal the real cause of death. His heart and one kidney were missing.

It also pointed to injuries on the back of the Karau’s hands, suggesting that he might have been protecting himself from blows by a blunt object. It is alleged that Njue at one point admitted to having taken the old man’s heart.

In a complaint filed with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, Mwongela claims that Njue hid the heart and kidney to conceal the true cause of death.