Nairobi News

A former boyfriend of the late Keroche heiress Tecra Muigai wants Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja to appear in court to give evidence after she implicated him in her daughter’s death in April 2020.

Omar Lali, through his lawyer on Thursday, July 13, 2023, asked Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul to summon the senator, her son James, her late daughter’s personal security detail Erick Cheruiyot and Andrew Waithera, and an Italian witness for cross-examination for making references to him in the matter.

The magistrate has given the state until July 25 to confirm the availability of the five intended witnesses.

The move comes after the investigating officer, Corporal Fredrick Odemba, told the inquest that there were glaring discrepancies in a report filed by Mr Lali on his state when Tecra died in April 2020.

Pointing out the inconsistencies, the officer said Mr Lali told him that on the fateful night, they had been drinking and then he went to sleep, leaving Tecra alone in the living room.

Also read: Cleaner ‘found blood’ in Tecra Muigai’s hotel room

The officer said that on further questioning, Mr Lali told the police that he was woken from his deep sleep by a thud from the fall of Tecra.

“We interrogated Mr Lali at the scene to know what happened, he told us that on the evening of April 22, 2020, after taking supper they started drinking and in the middle of the night, in his words, he ‘chewed’ a blackout (passed out) and slept leaving Tecra in the sitting room only to be awakened by a thunderous fall and a scream on the stairs,” Mr Odemba told the court.

The officer added that Mr Lali reported that after hearing the loud bang, he rushed to the living room and found that it was Tecra who had fallen and administered first aid to her before calling neighbours to help him take her to King Fahad Hospital in Lamu.

The officer said that after Mr Lali’s inconsistent statement, they set out to find out who he was.

The inquest heard that during the investigation, police found that at one point Tecra feared for her life and called her parents to arrange for her safety.

“According to my investigations towards the end, I found out that Tecra had made up her mind to leave Mr Lali and she also feared for her safety which made her call for security from Nairobi,” said Mr Odemba.

Also read: ‘I saw Tecra turn into someone I didn’t know,’ – Senator Tabitha Karanja

He added that by the time he and other officers arrived at the scene, Mr Lali had been arrested and was already in a cell.

“We went to the cell to pick up Mr Lali so that we could go to the scene together, and he showed us around the house, which was a two-storey building. There was a swimming pool on the ground floor, the master bedroom and two other bedrooms on the first floor, and a kitchen, dining room, living room and library on the second floor. There was a roof with a tree stand,” said the officer.

The investigating officer said the housekeeper and the manager showed them around.

The court heard that Mr Lali told the officers that he had planned a house party for the evening of April 22, 2020, and some arrangements had been made for drinks.

The housekeeper provided them with coconut juice, he had also prepared some passion fruit juice for them and then he left.

“The next day, April 23, 2020, one Geoffrey Mario, the caretaker of the house, came to clean the house. He opened the door and started cleaning from the ground floor, when he went to where the bedroom was, he noticed that the door of the main bedroom was open, nobody was in the room and the bed looked disturbed,” the officer said.

Also read: 10 tragic facts of relationship between Omar Lali and the late heiress Tecra Muigai

“The caretaker told us that he went to the second floor and found no one in the room, he tried to call Tecra’s phone and it went unanswered. Mario also called Mr Lali and there was no answer, as he kept calling he noticed a phone on the bed but he did not answer it. He went downstairs and noticed some watery fluid in the bedroom, downstairs there were some blood stains, he got worried and kept calling Mr Lali who was offline…he didn’t get him,” the officer told the court.

In the dining room, Mr Odemba said the caretaker noticed some used glasses.

There were miraa leaves on the floor and the table.

Mr Mario became worried and rushed to the caretaker’s house to report what he had found at the home of the two lovebirds.

The caretaker told the team that while they were still there, Mr Lali called the manager to report that they had had a small accident in the house and were in the hospital when Tecra was being treated.

“Mario further told us that Mr Lali told them not to worry and to continue cleaning the house.”

Officer Mr Odemba testified at the inquest into the death of Tecra, who died in 2020 after allegedly falling at a holiday home in Lamu.

Also read: ‘I don’t like to be controlled’ – Omar Lali’s demand to Tecra Muigai