Former KTN television presenter and actress Regina Re, whose real name is Regina Wambui Macharia Gitao, is among four people detained as detectives investigate the killing of her 86-year-old mother, Dorita Lasinder Macharia, at her home in Loresho, Nairobi.

Regina, who became a household name through the popular television quiz show Who's Smarter Now?, appeared before a Nairobi court on Monday, November 2, 2026, alongside three other suspects following the discovery of her mother's body on the night of October 30.

The elderly woman was reportedly found lying in a pool of blood with a deep cut on the left side of her neck. Police believe she was killed following a domestic disagreement involving her granddaughter, but the circumstances of the death remain under investigation.

The court authorised detectives to detain the four suspects at Gigiri Police Station for 10 days, rejecting an application by the prosecution to hold them for 15 days.

Regina has not been charged with murder, and police have not established that she participated in her mother's killing. Her detention is part of an ongoing investigation into what happened at the Loresho residence before and after the death.

Who is Regina Re? From KTN fame to acting and public speaking

For viewers who grew up watching Kenyan television in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Regina Re was a familiar figure on KTN.

She hosted Who's Smarter Now?, a television quiz programme that aired between 1999 and 2006. The show tested contestants' general knowledge and became associated with Regina's confident presentation style and distinctive personality.

Her signature farewell, "toodles", accompanied by a smile and finger wave, became one of her recognisable trademarks.

A retrospective profile published by The Standard described her as one of the memorable female personalities of Kenyan television during that period.

After leaving the programme, Regina maintained a relatively low public profile, turning her attention to image consultancy, performance coaching and acting.

She has a background in psychology and mass communication and has worked in public speaking, etiquette, personal branding and performing arts, according to the newspaper's earlier profile.

Her acting career includes appearances in the Kenyan television drama Makutano Junction, where she portrayed Hope Baraka, a character who became a chief and member of Parliament.

She has also appeared in productions including Pieces of Us, A Better Life and The Inside Story.

More recently, Regina returned to prominence in the entertainment industry through the 2023 Showmax Christmas film A Merry X-Mess.

In the film, directed by Gilbert Lukalia, she plays Zawadi Nyati, the matriarch of a competitive family whose Christmas celebrations become complicated by disagreements over family relationships, traditions and a church choir competition.

The production also features Melissa Kiplagat, Bruce Makau, Sheila Munyiva and Naomi Ramtu.

Her transition from quiz-show presenter to communications coach and screen actress gave Regina a professional career extending well beyond the television programme for which many Kenyans first knew her.

What happened at her mother's Loresho home?

According to information presented in court by investigating officer David Njoroge of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the events leading to Macharia's death involved a disagreement between the elderly woman and her granddaughter, identified as Thandie Malaika Gitao.

Police told the court that Macharia allegedly confronted her granddaughter after finding her in a compromising situation with her boyfriend inside the house.

The confrontation reportedly escalated, with the elderly woman demanding that her granddaughter leave the residence and surrender the keys she used to access the property.

Several other young people who were allegedly present were also directed to leave.

Following the disagreement, Macharia reportedly contacted her son, Jimmy Macharia, seeking his assistance in removing the granddaughter from the premises.

Investigators said the granddaughter initially left but subsequently returned and spent approximately one hour inside the residence with her grandmother.

Later, the elderly woman was discovered bleeding from a serious neck injury. According to the police account presented in court, the granddaughter ran outside and alerted others, shouting that her grandmother was bleeding.

These details form part of the preliminary police account and have not been established as findings of fact by a trial court.

Why was Regina Re arrested?

A central question in the investigation is how Regina Re became linked to the suspected murder.

According to court proceedings reported by the Daily Nation, investigating officer Njoroge alleged that Regina and her brother were found at the premises apparently attempting to clean the room where their mother had been killed.

Police considered this potential interference with the scene relevant to their investigation.

The allegation is significant because investigators must establish whether evidence at the scene was disturbed, what happened before officers arrived and whether those present can account for their actions.

However, the allegation that Regina was involved in cleaning the room does not, by itself, establish that she killed her mother or participated in the attack. The circumstances and purpose of any alleged cleaning have not been determined in court.

Regina is being held alongside her brother, Jimmy Macharia; her niece, Thandie Malaika Gitao; and another suspect, Emmanuel Munyeki, identified in court reporting as Thandie's boyfriend.

Early reports indicated that police had initially detained six people for questioning, before the four appeared in court for the detention application.

What the family's lawyer said

Senior Counsel Philip Murgor, who has been involved in representing members of the family, confirmed the circumstances in which Macharia's body was discovered.

Speaking to Citizen TV after the incident, Murgor said there were visible injuries and significant blood inside the house.

He described the circumstances surrounding her death as suspicious, saying:

"All we can say, it didn't look natural."

Murgor also confirmed that one of Macharia's sons had been taken into police custody after being found at the premises.

His account provided some of the earliest public confirmation that investigators were treating the death as a possible homicide rather than a natural death.

What the court ordered

During proceedings on November 2, prosecutor Faith Musoma asked the court to authorise the continued detention of the four suspects for 15 days.

The prosecution argued that investigators needed additional time to gather evidence and establish the events surrounding Macharia's death.

Among the outstanding investigative steps were the examination of CCTV footage from the Loresho estate, analysis of fingerprints, collection of mobile phone call records and interviews with witnesses believed to have been at or near the residence.

Police also planned to obtain a postmortem report establishing the medical cause of death.

The defence opposed the extended detention, arguing that the prosecution had not demonstrated sufficient grounds to continue holding the suspects. Lawyers for some of the respondents said their clients had already recorded statements and surrendered their mobile phones.

The defence also raised concerns about the arrest process and the protection of the suspects' constitutional rights.

The court granted a shorter detention period of 10 days, allowing investigators to continue their inquiries while the suspects remain at Gigiri Police Station.

The matter is scheduled for mention on November 12, 2026.

What remains unanswered?

 

Despite the details presented in court, important questions remain unresolved.

Detectives have yet to publicly establish who inflicted the fatal injury, whether a weapon has been recovered, the precise sequence of events inside the house or what role, if any, each of the four detained individuals played.

The reported disagreement between Macharia and her granddaughter is a line of inquiry, not proof that the disagreement caused the killing.

Equally, the police allegation about possible disturbance of the crime scene requires forensic evidence and further investigation before any conclusions can be drawn about Regina's conduct.

As of November 3, the publicly reported information does not establish that Regina was present when the fatal injury was inflicted. Nor does it establish that she directed, assisted or otherwise participated in the attack.

The investigation file is expected to be forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which will determine whether the available evidence supports criminal charges.

Until that process is completed, Regina Re and the other suspects remain entitled to the presumption of innocence.

For Regina, the case has brought renewed public attention to a career that began on Kenyan television more than two decades ago.

But beyond her celebrity status is the death of an 86-year-old woman in her own home, a case that has left investigators examining the conduct and movements of people within her immediate family.