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Hit man in Tett murder plot released on bond


A self-confessed hit man man who allegedly named former Assistant Minister Betty Tett in a murder conspiracy has been released on bond.

Mr John Linus Wachira will be required to deposit a bond of Sh 500,000 and surety of a similar amount to secure his freedom pending the hearing of the case on February 12.

He is required to report to the police one every two weeks and has been restricted from making contacts with his would be victim Mr Andrew John Laird White or risk the bail terms being cancelled.

A magistrate also prohibited the suspect from visiting the residence of the complainant or sending emissaries as had been earlier reported by the prosecution while seeking his denial of bail.

“It is the duty of the state to prove that it would be unsafe to release him on bail… courts in the country have released suspects charged with more serious offences on bail,” said Kibera Senior Resident Magistrate Brian Khaemba.

The magistrate added that the presupposed compelling reasons given by the prosecution seeking bail denial amounted to “mere speculation.”

GRANTED BAIL

A  prosecutor had  said there was apprehensions  that once the suspect is granted bail  he may interfere with the key witness in the case, which “is known to him.”

The court had been told that the suspect had made phone calls to the complainant seeking reconciliation and that his emissaries had approached  the businessman to drop the case.

In the case, Mr Wachira is charged with conspiring to kill Mr  White jointly with other not before the court.

The prosecution says the offence was committed between August 1 and December 29.

A preliminary duplicate investigation which implicates Ms Tett in the scheme states that there were money transfers made between her and the alleged hit man before he spilled the beans when he solicited for more cash from the would be victim to drop the mission.

It is said Ms Tett feel out with Mr  White in an advertising business they once ran together.

CREDIBLE EVIDENCE

The former politician has since been grilled in connection with the case and has recorded lengthy statements at the city’s Kabete police station.

Cyber crime detectives are said to be still analyzing the former assistant minister’s mobile phone to set the stage for her possible prosecution.

“The directorate of criminal investigations officers are piecing together what they termed as credible evidence linking Ms Tett to the alleged offence,” lawyer Cliff Ombeta who is acting for Mr White told reporters on Tuesday at the Kibera law courts.

According to sources in the security circles investigations which have included extraction of mobile phone messages from a service provider for forensic analysis are in final stages.

Mr Wachira is alleged to have signed a confession statement implicating Ms Tett as having hired him for the hit job.

He was arrested on December 29 after he allegedly went to collect Sh 3 million from Mr White after leaking the murder plot.