KDF man accused of k*****g wife ‘wanted baby mama to move in’

By Eliud Mwangi and Brian Okoth

A 26-year-old wife with fertility challenges, the coming into the picture of an ex-lover who bore the woman’s husband a child, and an obsessed husband, who couldn’t let go of his spouse of three years, summarises the drama that preceded the death of Leah Oloo, the partner of a KDF man currently in lawful custody for her killing.

Leah Oloo died last Thursday, June 11 at her matrimonial home in Lanet, Bahati Constituency in Nakuru County. Her body was discovered in the house the following day -- Friday, June 12 -- after her husband of three years, Kennedy Oloo, 29, filed a report at a nearby police post that his wife had committed suicide.

However, five days later, it emerged that Leah Oloo did not commit suicide, but was killed. A postmortem report released on Tuesday, June 16, indicated that Leah was strangled using an 8-mm rope. With those findings, a fertile ground for Kennedy’s arrest had been found.

Kennedy’s colleagues at the Lanet Barracks, where he worked as a military officer, arrested and handed him over to police at Bahati North post following Leah’s postmortem outcome.

The autopsy shows that 26-year-old Leah Oloo died of suffocation after “manual pressure was exerted on the lower part of her neck.” The report further indicated that Leah “had a groove on the lower part of her neck”.

“This man (Kennedy Oloo) lives with his wife. By the time of Leah’s death, the victim and the suspect were the only people in the house. Kennedy was the first person to file a report that his wife had committed suicide. However, a postmortem report ruled out suicide as the cause of Leah’s death. The autopsy result indicated someone was involved in Leah’s death, and that a rope or string was used to strangle her,” said Nakuru County DCI chief Michael Mwenze.

Assuming the allegations levelled against Kennedy Oloo are true, then what could have pushed him to kill Leah?

Authorities paint a picture of an obsessed man, who couldn’t let go of Leah despite their marriage hitting a rocky edge over Leah’s inability to conceive.

After three years of being together as husband and wife, and trying on several occasions to get a baby, it was dawning on the pair that their attempts were getting frustratingly unsuccessful.

It is alleged Kennedy remembered he had -- in the past -- sired a child with a youthful woman, whom he now wanted to introduce as part of his family, especially after it became clearer that Leah had difficulties in conceiving. Kennedy is said to have suggested to Leah that he would bring in another woman who has his child.

It is alleged Leah refused to share a matrimonial home with a co-wife, and, therefore, told her husband that she was ready to quit the marriage if he went ahead with the plan of introducing another woman into their marital life.

With Kennedy adamant that he must live with his baby mama, and Leah remaining firm that she couldn’t share a husband, the two clashed.

Leah had set Thursday, June 11, as the day she would leave her matrimonial home for her rural home in Tongaren, Bungoma County. It was that day that she was allegedly strangled by her husband.

Her relatives said Leah had told them that she made up her mind of splitting from her spouse “due to unending domestic fights”.

On June 11, shortly before her death, Leah sent her relatives, including her sister, messages saying her husband had locked her up to prevent her from leaving their Lanet house.

“During Leah’s death, her husband was in the house. The husband even called our mother and told her that Leah was committing suicide. That simply means that Oloo was present when Leah was dying,” said the deceased’s brother.

“I am appealing to the government to ensure that my daughter gets justice. Currently, I am financially challenged. I pray well-wishers help me raise money to transport my daughter’s body home for burial,” said Leah’s mother.

Kennedy Oloo was arraigned at the Nakuru Law Courts before Resident Magistrate Benjamin Limo on Wednesday, June 17, where the Prosecution successfully applied to hold him in custody as investigations into Leah’s death continue.

Oloo is expected back in court on Monday, June 22, when he will be charged with murder.