DPP Drops Tob Cohen Murder Case

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Noordin Haji has withdrawn the murder case of Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen.

Haji withdrew murder charges against Sarah Wairimu Cohen who was accused of killing her husband Tob in 2019.

Prosecutor Wangui Gichuhi had expressed an intention not to proceed with the matter.

"I hereby enter a Nolle Prosequi (do not prosecute) and inform this Honourable court that the Republic intends that the criminal proceedings against the above-named persons who are charged with the offense of Murder contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the Penal Code, Laws of Kenya shall not continue," the statement read in part.

Sarah Cohen with her lawyer, Philip Murgor. /TWITTER

Wangui added that the murder case of Tob Cohen will be registered as an inquest.

Wairimu was facing murder charges following the death of the 71-year-old whose body was discovered in a septic tank in their compound in the couple’s Kitisuru home.

She was immediately arrested and later charged with the murder which she denied and was freed on bond.

Cohen had lived in Kenya for 32 years. He died in Nairobi on an unknown date between July 20 and September 13, 2019.

Sarah in October called for the investigation and prosecution of ex-Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti over his role in alleged fabrications and skewed investigations against her.

Kinoti who was heading the investigative agency at the time visited the scene after the discovery of Cohen’s body and gave numerous media interviews.

“The body has been found in what we initially thought to be a septic tank at his home but we later realized it was an underground water tank,” Kinoti had revealed to Capital FM at the scene of the crime, accompanied by detectives from the DCI’s Homicide Department.

Following the discovery, Kinoti opened criminal proceedings against the victim’s wife who was named as the prime suspect in the brutal murder that made headlines across the country.

But Sarah through her lawyer Philip Murgor wanted Kinoti investigated following a revelation that the former DCI Director-General might have lied about the role of Court of Appeal judge Sankale Ole Kantai who was implicated in the murder of the Dutch tycoon.

In a sworn affidavit presented in court, a top DCI detective identified as John Gachomo argued that his former boss misled him into signing the document that implicated Justice Kantai.

“I can confirm that the contents of the Affidavit dated September 27, 2021, are neither based on facts nor documents from the file held by my office,” Gachomo said.

“That the contents of the said Affidavit are false and I therefore retract, deny of any knowledge and could not have been uttered by myself,” he added.

Sarah Wairimu appearing in court on October 3, 2022 when she pleaded not guilty to a murder charge stemming from the killing of her husband Tob Cohen. /CAPITAL GROUP