By Herbert Ssempogo

THREE suspects in the murder of a woman, whose body was stacked in a septic tank, were yesterday taken to the scene of the crime as the Police sought more clues.

Driven in a convoy of vehicles, Tom Nkurunjira, his friend Christopher Bagagaruka and Fred Ssempijja, a house-help, arrived at the quiet home in Bukasa, a Kampala suburb, at about 11:30am. The twin house, a stone throw-away from Lake Victoria, is under Police guard.

Victor Aisu, a senior detective and the Rapid Response Unit head, Jimmy Katonyerera, said the Police wanted to reconstruct the crime scene, a vital process in gathering evidence.

Three bedsheets, one of them red, were recovered from a wardrobe where they had allegedly been hidden after Ssempijja tried to wash off the blood on the orders of Nkurunjira.

The Police also discovered a blood-stained couch in the living room. The stained cushions had been washed but patches of blood were still visible.

It is suspected that the victim, 26-year-old Brenda Karamuzi, was on the couch when the assailant hit her with an object.

The Police also recovered a pair of knickers on top of the septic tank and Nkurungila’s clothes kept away in a small one-room house within the fenced compound.

Dressed in a gray T-shirt and jeans, Nkurunjira reportedly said the cushions were not stained by blood, but soda.

There was a bitter exchange of words between him and a detective, who wanted to know when the clothes found in a basket were last washed. The Police suspect they were washed after the murder.

An irritated Nkurunjira asked the detective to put the questions to Ssempijja.

“I don’t know when he washes the clothes. He has his own programme. He decides when to do his work,” he retorted.

After the search, the suspects were driven back to the RRU head office in Kireka, a Kampala suburb.

Sources said Nkurunjira recorded a statement following his arrest over the weekend.

The woman’s remains were discovered on Saturday by a man, who was fumigating the house.

The property owner, only identified as Juma, said yesterday Nkurunjira moved in two years ago and was paying sh400,000 monthly.

According to him, Nkurunjira has not paid rent for six months.

Brenda Karamuzi graduated from Uganda Christian University Mukono in 2006 and worked as a receptionist at NTV and as a public relations officer for AYA construction firm. The motive of the murder, which has raised public concern, is not yet clear.

Bagagaruka, who had called in on Nkurunjira at his residence, and Sempijja were the first to be arrested. The Police used them to trap Nkurunjira.

Sources said Sempijja, in a statement to the Police, said Nkurunjira returned home on January 21 with Brenda. He said his boss sent him twice the next day on errands. He said he was sent to purchase food from Kabalagala instead of the nearby areas, and to buy cigarettes at midnight.

The Police suspect that Karamuzi, a daughter of Henry Karamuzi, a retired permanent secretary, could have been murdered a week before her body was discovered. She relocated from the house of her mother, Joy Karamuzi, in Ndejje on Entebbe Road on January 21.

In an earlier search, the Police found three handbags belonging to the deceased.

The Police suspect Nkurunjira had an affair with Brenda.

Her family has rejected reports that the two were just friends.