Sarah Wairimu, the widow of Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen, who was murdered six years ago, was arrested on Thursday evening and scheduled to appear in court on Friday to respond to fresh murder charges.
Ms Wairimu was arrested at her home in Nairobi and detained at Kilimani Police Station, with detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) stating that new evidence has linked her to the gruesome murder of her husband.
“The suspect was arrested by DCI detectives from the headquarters, but she is now in our custody,” Kilimani OCPD Patricia Tegon told reporters on Thursday.
Sources revealed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Benson Ingonga, has authorised fresh charges against Wairimu. This follows an approach from investigators who, dissatisfied with the decision of former DPP Noordin Haji to withdraw the murder trial, presented new evidence to Ingonga.
Two years ago, Mr Haji requested that a Nairobi court withdraw the murder charges against Wairimu and her co-accused, Peter Karanja, and instead order a public inquest to be heard at Milimani Court in Nairobi.
Ms Wairimu is accused of orchestrating the murder of Cohen, who went missing in July 2019, with his body later discovered in a septic tank at their home in Nairobi weeks later. Days after his body was found, Ms Wairimu and Karanja were arrested. They denied the charges before High Court Judge Stella Mutuku and were released on a cash bail of Sh 2 million each.
In 2020, Ms Wairimu claimed that Cohen had been murdered and dumped in the septic tank while she was in police custody. She told the court that her husband was killed by individuals known to her, who were being protected by DCI officers.
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