Migori governor Okoth Obado’s aide Michael Oyamo plotted the spine-chilling murder of his boss’s pregnant ex-lover Sharon Otieno, a court heard yesterday.
Oyamo then drove to a police station, pretending he had been kidnapped by the very gang he hired, prosecutors said.
They told a Nairobi High Court that Oyamo was a calculating planner who used his charm and familiarity with Sharon to lure her and hand her over to ruthless murderers who stabbed her eight times.
The criminals also stabbed her unborn baby, Obado’s son, through Sharon’s back. The blade smashed through the stomach of the foetus.
Court papers filed by prosecutor Clement Mwangi say that on September 3, Oyamo lured Sharon from her parents’ home in Homa Bay to Rongo in Migori county.
Mwangi says he has since established that after Oyamo handed over Sharon and Oduor to the abductors, he then proceeded to Uriri police station and made a false report that he had been kidnapped.
“The accused person alleged that following his kidnap, he found himself at Kisii Level 5 Hospital on September 4 where he was purportedly treated at 9 am,” the affidavit reads.
The DCI has established that Oyamo was not a patient at the hospital then. DNA results confirmed Obado fathered Sharon’s child.
“Sharon was tortured, raped and brutally murdered. We have evidence linking the accused person and his accomplices to the commission of the heinous crime,” the affidavit says.
Oyamo, who appeared before justice Jessie Lessit, denied murdering Sharon. He is the second person to be charged with the murder of the 26-year-old student.
Obado was the first person to be charged with the murder, as well as conspiracy, abetting and financing.
Police are pursuing the actual killers who are on the run.
Obado will appear in court today for his bail ruling.
The prosecution led by deputy director Jacob Ondari, Alexander Muteti and Tom Imbali told the court that they have Oduor’s witness account, implicating Obado, Caspal Obiero and suspects at large.
The Nation Media Group journalist made a report on September 3 of his alleged abduction. He said he was with Sharon and the abduction was carried out by four unidentified men on Homa Bay Road. Immediately before the kidnapping,the two victims had been with Micheal Oyamo.
Mwangi said releasing Oyamo on bail would expose Sharon’s family and other witnesses to the risk of intimidation, considering the suspect’s central role in the murder.
“As the persons to whom the accused handed over the deceased are still at large, it would be extremely dangerous to release him now.
There is a real risk that if released he could easily reconnect with the same gang and put the witnesses at grave risk,” the affidavit says.
Sharon’s mother, Melida Auma, yesterday urged the public to allow the investigators to do their work so the family can know who murdered their daughter.
“I pray for the investigators. We are in pain. We want justice for our child,” Auma said.
