By ADEN KIPRUTO
Allegations of poisoning, a forged will, stalled criminal investigations and institutional obstruction have deepened the bitter inheritance dispute over the estate of former Nakuru mayor Joseck Thuo Ngeta, more than four years after his death.
At the centre of the dispute are Thuo’s widow, Susan Wanjiru Thuo, and her son, Nixon Thuo, who are demanding a fresh and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death and the authenticity of a will that has been at the heart of succession proceedings at the Nakuru High Court.
The two have petitioned Chief Justice Martha Koome and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), seeking intervention in what they describe as a complex case involving a suspicious death, alleged poisoning, document forgery and a multimillion-shilling estate.
In a letter dated May 18, 2026, addressed to the DCI and copied to the Director of the Homicide Investigations Bureau, Susan and Nixon asked the specialised homicide unit at DCI headquarters to take over the investigations.
They claim that reports on Thuo’s death and the alleged subsequent forgery of his will were initially made at DCI Kaptebwa and later escalated to the Nakuru County headquarters, but that the investigations have made little progress for nearly four years.
“We strongly believe the local investigative apparatus might have been compromised by the extreme wealth and influence of the prime suspects,” the two said in the letter.
They want the homicide detectives to examine what they describe as a chain of suspicious events surrounding Thuo’s final days, including his treatment at War Memorial Hospital in Nakuru, toxicology findings, alleged resistance to a post-mortem examination and the circumstances in which the disputed will emerged.
According to the family, Thuo spent the day in December 2021 at his private office at Abbey Resort in Nakuru, which he shared with his son Geoffrey, before returning home in the evening.
They say he later fell critically ill and was taken to War Memorial Hospital the following morning by Susan and his driver, identified as Kavisu.
The family alleges that Thuo was left unattended for more than four hours while lying on an outside bench, as Geoffrey and the driver allegedly followed up on laboratory results.
Susan and Nixon claim medical documents they eventually obtained contained findings suggesting exposure to a toxic substance.
When Thuo became unconscious, Nixon, who was in Nairobi at the time, allegedly hired a private ambulance to transfer him to Mater Hospital in Nairobi, where he was admitted before later dying.
The family has also questioned the conduct of some relatives and other individuals following Thuo’s admission to hospital, particularly what they describe as resistance to a post-mortem examination.
They claim some relatives opposed an autopsy and sought to hasten the burial.
According to their letter, a post-mortem was eventually conducted under police supervision following a request by the Government pathologist.
The family further claims that toxicology tests by Lancet Laboratories detected a chemical substance which they associate with poisoning.
They also cite a cause of death involving raised intracranial pressure resulting from a chronic right subdural haemorrhage, alongside the toxicological findings.
The allegations have not been established by a court, and the family is asking the DCI to independently establish whether Thuo was poisoned and whether any person was criminally responsible for his death.
The succession dispute intensified shortly after his death when a purported will was produced, which Susan and Nixon say was presented about three days after Thuo died.
Susan says she immediately questioned the document’s authenticity after noticing differences between the signatures on the will and her late husband’s known signatures.
The family claims a private document examiner subsequently concluded that the signatures were forged.
They have also pointed to several other alleged irregularities in the document, including misspelt names of family members, omission of recognised heirs and the inclusion of a beneficiary whom they say was unknown to relatives.
They further question the accuracy of assets listed in the will, alleging that one property cited in the document does not exist and that shareholding figures in a resort were misrepresented.
The alleged anomalies have become central to the family’s demand that the original will be subjected to forensic examination.
The family says the original document is particularly important because a government forensic document examiner indicated that only the original will could support a conclusive analysis.
However, efforts by DCI detectives to obtain the document from the Nakuru High Court Family Division have allegedly failed.
According to the family’s petition to Chief Justice Koome, court officials directed investigators to make a separate application seeking release of the original will.
The application was subsequently heard by the same judge handling the succession proceedings, according to the petition.
The court ruled that the original will would only be released after determination of the legitimacy of the wills before it.
Susan and Nixon say the succession matter was concluded in July 2025, but the original document has allegedly still not been released to investigators.
They argue that continued withholding of the document has effectively stalled the criminal investigation into the alleged forgery.
The family has also questioned why the same judicial officer handled both the succession proceedings and the application seeking access to the original will, saying the arrangement raises concerns requiring administrative clarification.
They further allege that registry officials frustrated attempts by their lawyers to obtain court documents needed for investigations and possible further legal action.
The complainants say the situation has been compounded by changes in the leadership of Nakuru Law Courts following the elevation of the court’s presiding judge to the Court of Appeal, which they claim has made it difficult to secure administrative intervention.
Through rights lobby group Gaplink International, Susan and Nixon petitioned Chief Justice Koome in March 2026 seeking administrative intervention.
They want the Chief Justice to facilitate the release of the original will to the DCI, grant investigators and their lawyers access to relevant court records and initiate an inquiry into the conduct of court officials whom they accuse of delaying the investigations.
Gaplink argues that the dispute has moved beyond an ordinary family succession battle and raises wider questions about access to justice, accountability and public confidence in the administration of justice.
The estate at the centre of the dispute is described by the family as extensive, comprising Abbey Resort Ltd, rental properties in Nairobi and Nakuru and large parcels of land in Gilgil and Elementaita.
Susan and Nixon allege that individuals they regard as suspects have taken control of a substantial portion of the estate’s income.
In their May 18 letter to the DCI, they claim the individuals are collecting about 95 per cent of the estate’s income and allege, without providing evidence in the documents, that some of the money could be used to influence local officials and frustrate the investigations.
They also claim that the prolonged dispute has forced them to change lawyers about five times.
“The intervention of your specialised, impartial and meticulous unit is urgently required to help us find justice, due to the profound complexity of this case which intertwines a highly suspicious death, medical cover-ups, forgery and a multi-million-shilling estate dispute,” they said.
The family says it is ready to provide investigators with medical records, toxicology reports, document examiner findings and witness testimonies.
They have also indicated that they would pursue further measures, including seeking the exhumation of Thuo’s remains, if investigators determine that it is necessary.
Beyond the disputed will and questions surrounding Thuo’s death, the family says the prolonged litigation has taken a heavy personal toll.
They claim the dispute has caused severe psychological distress among beneficiaries, with some members seeking counselling and medical treatment.
They have also reported alleged death threats, some of which they claim involved firearms and were linked to other beneficiaries of the estate.
According to their petition, reports concerning the threats have been lodged with the police and the Firearms Licensing Board, although they say concerns over their safety remain.
The disputed will has consequently emerged as the critical link between the succession battle and the criminal investigation.
For Susan and Nixon, access to the original document is necessary to establish whether the signatures and other disputed features are genuine.
They argue that without the original, forensic investigators cannot conclusively determine whether the will was authentic or forged.
Their demand for a fresh investigation also seeks to widen the inquiry from the alleged document fraud to the circumstances surrounding Thuo’s death.
They want investigators to establish whether there was any connection between the alleged poisoning, the events at the hospital, resistance to the post-mortem examination and the subsequent emergence of the disputed will.
However, all the allegations contained in the petitions remain claims by the family and have not been established as fact.
The culpability of any person alleged to have participated in wrongdoing would have to be established through investigations and, where applicable, criminal or civil proceedings.
For now, the family’s central demand is for the DCI headquarters to take over the matter and conduct an independent investigation into both Thuo’s death and the disputed will.
With the succession proceedings having been concluded in July 2025, according to the family, attention has increasingly shifted to whether investigators will finally obtain the original will and whether the criminal allegations surrounding its authenticity and Thuo’s death will be fully investigated.
The outcome could determine not only the fate of the multimillion-shilling estate but also whether the long-standing questions surrounding the former mayor’s death will finally be resolved.
