Sarah Cohen Detained For Another Weekend After Pleading Not Guilty

This comes after the court on Wednesday, January 28 rejected a prosecution request for Wairimu to undergo another mental assessment before entering a plea for the murder of her late husband Cohen.

Viral Tea Ke Writer Viral Tea Ke Writer
Jan 29, 2025 - 18:00 Updated: Jan 29, 2025 - 18:01
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Sarah Cohen Detained For Another Weekend After Pleading Not Guilty
Sarah Wairimu Cohen appearing before the Kibra Law Courts, Nairobi, January 29, 2025. /ODPP

Sarah Wairimu, the widow of Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen, is set to spend another weekend in remand, until Monday, February 3.

This comes after the court on Wednesday, January 28 rejected a prosecution request for Wairimu to undergo another mental assessment before entering a plea for the murder of her late husband Cohen.

Wairimu was arraigned before the High Court of Kenya at the Kibera Law Courts, and charged with the murder. Appearing before Lady Justice Diana Kavedza, Wairimu however pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The charge, brought under Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code Cap 63 Laws of Kenya, indicated that she committed the offence in 2019.

Sarah Cohen with her lawyer, Philip Murgor. /TWITTER

The court heard that on the night of July 19 and 20, 2019, at the Lower Kabete area within Nairobi County, the accused, jointly with others not before the court, murdered Tob Cohen.

"The Prosecution, represented by Sarah Ogweno, Peris Maina, Christine Timoi, Livia Gachanja, and Leon Wandera, supplied the court with Wairimu’s mental assessment report and requested time to file an affidavit opposing her release on bond," a statement by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

Judge Kavedza rejected the request, stating that Wairimu had already undergone a mental assessment in 2019 when she was first arrested. She instructed that the 2019 assessment be submitted to the court, and once it was presented, she directed Wairimu to enter a plea in the case.

The Accused was remanded pending a bail hearing on February 3, 2025. Wairimu was arrested again on Thursday, January 23 after the DPP made overwhelming evidence showing that she murdered Cohen.

In particular, the DPP, Renson Ingonga, confirmed receipt of new material that would be instrumental in the murder case. "Wairimu’s impending arraignment following her arrest on 23rd January 2025 comes after the DPP received new material in relation to Cohen’s death from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)," the DPP stated in part.

Detectives from the Homicide Investigations Bureau immediately arrested Sarah upon receipt of the DPP’s recommendation and detained her at Kilimani Police Station, awaiting court proceedings on Friday, January 24.

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.

Tob Cohen (now deceased) and his wife Sarah Cohen. /NAIROBI NEWS

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