Johansen Oduor: Cohen’s postmortem has revealed ‘many findings’ about his death

By , K24 Digital
On Wed, 18 Sep, 2019 20:30 | 3 mins read
The State’s chief pathologist, Dr. Johansen Oduor, told K24 Digital that Mariam Kighenda, 35, and Amanda Mutheu, 4, died of asphyxia – a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen. [PHOTO | FILE]
The State’s chief pathologist, Dr. Johansen Oduor, told K24 Digital that Mariam Kighenda, 35, and Amanda Mutheu, 4, died of asphyxia – a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen. [PHOTO | FILE]
The State’s chief pathologist, Dr. Johansen Oduor, told K24 Digital that Mariam Kighenda, 35, and Amanda Mutheu, 4, died of asphyxia – a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen. [PHOTO | FILE]

Chief Government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor on Wednesday night said that the Late tycoon Tob Cohen’s postmortem examination has revealed “many findings” on how he met his death.

Speaking at the Chiromo Mortuary, Dr Oduor, who represented the State, said he and two other pathologists, representing Cohen’s family and his widow Sarah Wairimu respectively, won’t disclose details of the findings because “the court has barred us from speaking to the public about details of Cohen’s murder case”.

“We had so many findings in the body, details of which we are unable to release right now because there is an existing court order which bar us from talking about details of the case,” said Dr Oduor.

Dr Andrew Gachi, who represents Sarah Wairimu, said besides the autopsy, other tests will be conducted on Cohen’s body in order to assist detectives in their investigations.

“We understand what the law says: that details of any investigation must not be discussed in public. We want to respect our courts, and, therefore, we leave it at that for the day,” said Dr Gachi.

“The reports will be sent to the concerned people or authorities. We need to do toxicology, DNA tests, histology… There are several tests that still need to be done,” added Dr Gachi.

Dr Emily Rogena, who represented Cohen’s family, said preliminary test results showed that the body belonged to the late 71-year-old businessman, though more tests will be conducted to ascertain the body’s identity.

“We are still waiting for the final confirmation, the DNA test. But, so far, we all are in agreement that the body is that of Tob Cohen,” said Dr Rogena.

Last Friday, September 13, the DCI boss, George Kinoti, revealed that Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen was “brutally” killed inside his house in Kitisuru, Nairobi “by several people”.

Kinoti described Cohen’s murder as cold and one that was meted out by “heartless” people.

The DCI chief said Cohen was “bowed” with his hands tied behind his neck, and, thereafter, “brutally killed”.

Kinoti, however, did not reveal how the killing was done, saying “more details will be revealed soon”.

“From the onset, when this matter was reported to us, I ordered this place [Cohen’s house] to be cordoned off as a scene of crime.  It is almost two months since we declared this place a scene of crime,” said DCI boss Kinoti at Cohen’s home on Friday.

The DCI chief addressed journalists shortly after Cohen’s body was retrieved from an underground water tank in the tycoon’s home.

“From criminal intelligence, we knew why we had to declare this place a scene of crime very fast. From that time, there are things that we have been doing that we won’t give in-depth details of as of now,” said the DCI boss.

“As investigators, we know that there is no perfect crime. Today, true to our criminal intelligence as detectives, it is unfortunate we lost one of us. We have discovered the body of the missing Mr Tob Cohen. Members of his family have already positively identified him,” added Kinoti.

“Cohen was murdered in his own residence. It is a gruesome murder! They took their time to kill innocent Cohen. I won’t describe much. He was bowed, his hands tied behind the neck, and, thereafter, murdered.  They then hid his body in an underground water tank. They took their time. These people were heartless, absolutely heartless… I do not know… If it is money, or even if it is domestic strife, it cannot move anybody, for sure, to go to that extent,” said the DCI boss.

“In the Republic of Kenya, even at the conception of that crime, you won’t go far. It will be a matter of days, and we will find you.

“We have two suspects [in custody] so far, and we are going to arrest more. We have so much [information] that we won’t share with the public as of now,” said Kinoti.

Asked on what could be the motive behind Cohen’s killing, the top sleuth said: “The motive is very clear… But since it is a matter before court, we won’t discuss that as at now.”

Tob Cohen’s wife, Sarah Wairimu Kamotho, is the key suspect in the murder, and is set to undergo mental test before she takes plea.

Tob Cohen went missing on July 19, 2019.

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