Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his two co-accused were on Thursday found guilty of murdering a Rongo University student Sharon Otieno eight years ago.
Justice Cecilia Githua, sitting in Milimani, Nairobi, ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, implicating Obado, his former personal assistant Michael Oyamo, and former Migori County Clerk Caspal Obiero in the macabre killing of Sharon, who at the time was heavily pregnant.
The judge found that the evidence presented during the trial sufficiently linked the three men and others not before the court to the killing.
The case dates back to September 2018, when Sharon, then 26 and about seven months pregnant, was abducted alongside Nation Media Group journalist Barrack Oduor after leaving a hotel in Rongo.
Mr Oduor escaped by jumping from the moving vehicle, but Sharon’s body was discovered a day later in a thicket near Kodera Forest in the neighbouring Homa Bay County.
A post-mortem conducted by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor established that Sharon died from multiple stab wounds and excessive bleeding.Her unborn baby did not survive either.
“It is therefore my finding that the prosecution has proved its case against the first, the second, and the third accused persons beyond reasonable doubt. I consequently find each accused person guilty of the offence of murder,” Justice Githua ruled.
“I am satisfied that the circumstances form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the fact that the accused persons jointly with others not before the court committed the offence. The evidence irresistibly points to the fact that the accused persons with malice aforethought unlawfully caused the death of Sharon.”
After that ruling, the prosecution sought to have bail for all three cancelled and for them to be remanded in custody pending sentencing.
Prosecuting counsel Gikui Gichuhi urged the judge to give time to obtain records of previous convictions, a pre-sentencing report, and a victim impact report.
