Having been found fit to stand trial, Lawrence Warunge was Thursday officially charged with five counts of murder.

The 22-year-old university student appeared virtually before Justice Mary Kasanga where he was charged with killing his father Nicholas Warunge, mother Anne Warunge, brother Christian Njenga, nephew Maxwell Njenga and construction worker James Kinyanjui on the night of January 5-6, 2021.

Warunge entered a not guilty plea. He was set to take plea on Wednesday, but it was pushed to Thursday to allow the prosecution to complete a miscellaneous application that had been filed at the Kiambu Law Courts.

The court directed that the suspect be remanded at Nairobi Industrial Area Prison until May 11 when pre-trial will start.

Warunge’s girlfriend Ms Sarah Muthoni, who was previously presented before court as the second accused, was acquitted on January 26 and is now a State witness.