‘Lover’, three other suspects in Caroline Mwatha’s murder case released
Four suspects accused of killing Dandora based human rights activist Caroline Mwatha in February were on Friday freed on bond.
High Court judge agreed to release Ms Betty Akinyi, her son Mr Dale Richard Ramoya, Mr Michael Onchiri, and Mr Alexander Gitau, the alleged lover.
The judge ordered the suspects to refrain from going to a city clinic which is now considered as the scene of crime as well as interfering with witnesses.
However, the judge also ruled that prosecution had failed to prove that there were compelling reasons to have the four detained pending trial of the murder case.
CASH BAIL
He directed the four to pay a cash bail of Sh300,000 or an alternative bond of Sh 500,000 with two sureties of similar amount.
“I will grant the accused bail but with caution, failure to adhere to the terms, the bail shall be revoked and the accused persons shall not go to the New Njiru Clinic,” said Justice Lesiit.
Ms Mwatha’s body was found at City Mortuary nearly a week after she was reported missing.
A post-mortem conducted on her body revealed that she died of excessive bleeding following a botched abortion.
Text messages obtained from Ms Mwatha’s mobile phone by detectives at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations revealed her last conversations with Mr Alexander Gikonya, with whom police say she had an extramarital affair.
The series of text messages, written in a mixture of Kiswahili and English, paint a picture of a helpless and distressed woman who was in agony and one who feared for her life moments after she procured the abortion.
INTERFERE WITH WITNESSES
Prosecution had objected to the release of the four arguing that they were likely to interfere with witnesses set to testify in the case.
Prosecution had also indicated that one of the suspects, Ms Akinyi, has a pending case at a Kigumo-based court involving child theft.
The court was also been told that a suspect in the murder had escaped arrest hence the release of the four posed a risk of undermining the case.
But in their defence, the suspects said they were not a flight risk and have strong family ties and promised to attend court dates without fail.