Wairimu won’t be responsible for ‘miraculous’ discoveries – Murgor

Sarah Wairimu’s lawyer, Philip Murgor, now claims a senior police officer on Saturday, September 14, “illegally” obtained the keys to the suspect’s Kitisuru home from a caretaker assigned to watch over the Ksh500 million property.

Murgor says the senior cop took the keys from the agent despite an edict declaring Cohen’s home a scene of crime being lifted on Wednesday.

Murgor said the high-ranking law-enforcement officer first threatened the caretaker on phone before driving to Cohen’s home, where he [IP Mwangi] forcefully took the main house key.

“Shortly after the press conference in my office this afternoon at about 1pm, the caretaker of the Cohen matrimonial home, received a strange telephone call from IP Mwangi who demanded the house keys without assigning any reason, and more so after the CID handed over the key on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 after they concluded their search in the house,” said Murgor in a press statement released Saturday.

"He [IP Mwangi] specifically warned her against handing over the keys to Sarah’s lawyers, and proceeded to drive over to her home, where he took the keys from her without a written acknowledgement of the said key,” said Murgor.

The lawyer said any subsequent findings in Cohen’s house should not be -- in any way -- blamed on his client, Sarah Wairimu Kamotho, who is currently remanded at Lang’ata Women’s Prison.

“This is to place the DCI on notice that our client shall not entertain any interference with the matrimonial home, nor will Sarah be held responsible/culpable for any miraculous “discoveries” of any sort,” said Murgor.

The suspect’s legal rep now wants the DCI to tell him when Cohen’s postmortem examination will be done so that they can present their independent pathologist to monitor the exercise and ensure that the results that will be announced are accurate.

“In the meantime, this is to notify the public that our client, Mrs Sarah Cohen, will be appointing an independent pathologist to be present at the postmortem of the Late Tob Cohen, and is our hope that the DCI will not rush the exercise and will observe the law by duly notifying Mrs Cohen through ourselves of the date and time of the postmortem, in order to facilitate attendance,” said Murgor in the statement also sent to DCI boss George Kinoti and DPP chief Noordin Haji.

Earlier Saturday, Philip Murgor maintained that his client, Sarah Wairimu, did not kill the Late Dutch tycoon.

Addressing journalists at his office in Ecobank Towers, Nairobi on Saturday, September 14, Murgor said in a 17-day search operation by DCI detectives, they had combed everywhere in Tob Cohen’s Kitisuru compound, including the underground water tank, where his body was retrieved from on Friday, September 13, and that their previous searches yielded nothing to link his client to the murder.

Murgor suggested that Cohen could have been killed elsewhere recently and his body planted at the scene.

“I have talked to pathologists, and they have said there is no possibility that after close to 50 days a body would be found in a state that Cohen’s was in,” said Murgor.

The lawyer claims that his client was only allowed access to her house twice in a period of 17 days, hence there was no way she could kill and hide his body in the water tank during that period.

“The two times she was allowed access to her house, she was escorted by DCI detectives. Sarah had gone to her house for a bath and change of clothes,” said the lawyer.

Murgor further alleged that the last time Cohen was spotted on July 20, he was in the company of two women.

“I spoke to Sarah [on Friday, September 13], and she is saddened that her husband has been confirmed dead,” said Murgor.

Murgor’s remarks come barely a day after DCI boss, George Kinoti, said that Cohen, 71, was brutally tortured before being killed.

Cohen’s widow, Sarah Wairimu, is in custody, awaiting mental evaluation to establish her fitness to stand trial.