Georgia Mystery | The Kuria Family Murders
Even though Jane Kuria and her daughters were more than 8,000 miles from Kenya, they were not out of harm's way. On August 1st, 2007, their dreams of a safe life to were shattered.
Following the murder of her husband, Jane Kuria and her two daughters left Kenya for America looking for a fresh start.
Even though they were more than 8,000 miles, they were not out of harm's way. On August 1st, 2007, their dreams of a safe life were shattered.
Kuria and her two daughters, Isabela, 19, and Anabelle, 16, were found beaten to death by a family member inside their home on Country Cove Way in Powder Springs. Kuria's seven-year-old son, Jeremy, and his 10-year-old cousin Peter Thande were also beaten unconscious, however, both survived.
"The mom and two daughters were bludgeoned to death," criminal defense investigator Charles Mittelstadt said. "They were severely beaten and bludgeoned. A lot of blunt force trauma. A very violent, emotionally charged scene there."
Cobb County detectives investigated the possibility the murders were in retaliation against Kuria but found no evidence to support that theory.
"She was leaving Kenya because of her husband being executed there," said Joseph Scott Morgan, of Jacksonville State University. "Because he wasn't being compliant with the local religious laws relative to female circumcision is what it comes down to."
It's the nature of the crime that may be the biggest obstacle investigators have in trying to solve it.
"In my estimation based on my experience this something that is very rage filled," Morgan said. "The biggest challenge will be cultural barriers that investigators have to overcome," Morgan said. "This is a very closed culture. It's a culture that these people were coming from that is very brutal."