The life of TV presenter Jacquie Maribe took a drastic turn in September 2018 after she was implicated in the brutal murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani.
Jacquie Maribe landed a coveted position as a news anchor at Citizen TV in 2009 before rising quickly through the ranks and was already a household name by the time of the scandal in 2018.
Jacque Wanjiru Maribe was born on December 18, 1989, in Muranga County to a middle-class family. She had expressed interest in media from a young age, a passion that saw her pursue a degree in Journalism and Media Studies.
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The former TV host had lived away from drama, concentrating on her career until she met the infamous Joseph Irungu, popularly known as Jowie. Due to his majestic appearance, the couple soon became the talk of the town, with their engagement being the icing on the cake.
Their happiness was, however, short-lived after the discovery of the body of businesswoman Monica Kimani in her apartment at Lamuria Gardens in Kilimani. As if fate was playing a cruel joke, Maribe is the one who was on duty in the studio and broadcasted the discovery of Monica's body.
After being implicated in the murder, Jacque Maribe was arrested and spent a month in custody before being granted a Sh2 million surety bond with an alternative of a Sh1 million tripartite surety cash bail by Justice James Wakiaga.
After being freed on bail, Maribe broke up with Jowie and described him as a woman eater, concluding that “he is a male version of a slay queen.”Justice Wakiaga warned that she should not read the news, even though her employer had filed a supporting document in her bail application.
Jacque then began a journey of court appearings and postponed hearings, her life hung in limbo. Maribe vanished from the big screens and later resigned from Citizen TV. According to sources known to K24 TV, Maribe had lied about wanting time off for personal reasons only to be seen in the company of Dennis Itumbi.
“The bosses felt that she had duped them into giving her time off work. Immediately after pictures of Maribe in the company of Itumbi at Muthaiga police cells went viral, one of the bosses called her on phone and asked her to either resign or face the sack,” said our well-placed source.
With an ongoing case, the former TV presenter tried several side hustles, but none picked up. She was at one time embroiled in a bitter online exchange with his baby daddy, famous comedian turn-activist Eric Omondi, over the paternity of their son.
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Eric Omondi had publically denied fathering the child despite being present in the child's life since birth; he accused Maribe of refusing to conduct a DNA test to establish paternity and put the rumors to bed. he later apologized but doubled back to his original stance.
"I'm sorry I denied that child in public. Hasira hasara is a female name. "I made it public, but I believe blogs blew the story out of proportion," he remarked during an interview with Mwende Machari.
After almost five years of uncertainty, Jacque Maribe was finally acquitted of the murder of Businesswoman Monica Kimani on the 9 of February 2024 and can finally start to rebuild her life, reputation, and career.
During the ruling by Justice Grace Nzioka, she noted that the prosecution failed to prove their murder case against Maribe due to filing improper charges. Jowie was, however, found guilty of the murder and will remain in custody awaiting sentencing.
“It is my considered view that the charge brought against the second accused person (Jacque Maribe) was not the proper charge.” Justice Nzioka ruled.
Speaking with the press after her acquittal on Friday, the elated Maribe quoted John 8, 31 saying the “truth shall set you free.”
Her acquittal was met with jubilation from her long-time friend Denis Itumbi, who had stood by her side throughout the trial.
"I have no regrets that I stood by you." He posted.
Itumbi criticized the former DCI boss, George Kinoti, accusing him of orchestrating a senseless drama for media headlines. He encourages her to rise from the ashes, emphasizing that although time may have been lost, the essence of her being remains unscathed.
Jacque Maribe is FREE!
— -Dennis Itumbi, CBS (@OleItumbi) February 9, 2024
Maribe DID NOT kill Monica.
Daaamn! I feel so vindicated!
There was a rogue DCI boss called George Kinoti, who craved for headlines, and Jacque Maribe was a pawn in his unfortunate game of nonsensical play.
It has been SIX years, a journey of shadows,…
Itumbi said that the system failed Jacque Maribe and the rogue people who added her in this case just for headlines, and the creation of a circus should be answerable.
