Jane Nduta (right) recounts what she heard, saw and did on the night one of Kenya’s brightest athletics talents met his bizarre end at his home in Nyahururu town on May 16, 2011. Photos/FILE

The woman who was in the bedroom with marathon world champion Samuel Kamau Wanjiru on the night he died on Wednesday said she did not think the star wanted to commit suicide.
Ms Jane Nduta, said the 24-year-old champion “fell badly” as he ran after his wife, Teresia Njeri, who had just locked them in the bedroom in the couple’s Nyahururu home.
Ms Njeri returned home unexpectedly in the middle of the night and found Wanjiru with Ms Nduta in their matrimonial home.
“To me, his intention in jumping off the balcony was not to commit suicide but to go after his wife and get the keys back so that he could open the locked door,” Ms Nduta told the Nation.
She said she was traumatised by the incident and had moved to her rural home for some time to recover and stay away from Nyahururu town and the many questions being asked about her.
This emerged as Wanjiru’s mother, Ms Hannah Wanjiru, announced that her son would not be buried until investigations into his death are completed.
Ms Wanjiru accused a close relative of killing her son and maintained there was blood in the sitting room and the bedroom.
She said “Kamau will not be buried” and wondered why people were asking her about funeral arrangements.
Ms Njeri has asked police for security, saying her mother-in-law “has been threatening her and sending strange men to her house.”
Police are yet to check whether the security cameras that could have recorded the events were working and if there is a record of what transpired that night. (READ: Cameras could solve mystery of Wanjiru’s death plunge)
Ms Nduta’s presence in the bedroom was the cause of yet another spat between Wanjiru and his wife.
The young couple has had a troubled marriage, which at one time landed him in a police cell and in the courts on assault charges.
Ms Nduta, a waitress at Kawa Falls restaurant — which is about a kilometre from the athlete’s home — told the Nation that Wanjiru was drunk when he got to the bar shortly before closing time, 11pm.
She said they were friends and that he had visited her house at Site Estate, not far from his home.
It was, however, the first time she was going to his home, she said, and only agreed to accompany him after Wanjiru assured her that his wife was not at home.
Ms Nduta said she filled in the records of stock at the bar before they left for Jimrock Restaurant, about 500 metres from Kawa Falls, and Wanjiru took more alcohol and got quite drunk.
“After finishing the drinks, he suggested that we go to his place but I asked him first whether his wife was at home, and he told me she wasn’t and I said we can go ahead,” said Ms Nduta.
The woman said when they got home, Wanjiru stopped his car at the gate to talk to the guard first.
He got into the compound and later came to the vehicle and asked the guard to open the gate, then he drove in and parked.
As the guard was locking the door, the two stepped into the sitting room.