Six years after the shocking murder of Dutch tycoon Tovah Cohen, his wife Sarah Wairimu has been arrested and will be charged with murder at Kibera court today. Police sources said she was arrested after the Director of Public Prosecutions reviewed the case file and concluded that there was enough evidence to charge her.
A police source told The Standard that new evidence had come to light. The charges were filed after a long legal battle culminating in a public hearing by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Milimani Court in April 2024.
Wairima, who was arrested on Thursday and remanded at Kilimani Police Station, is accused of plotting the brutal murder of her husband Cohen, who went missing in July 2019. His decomposing body was found weeks later in a septic tank at their Nairobi home.
The disappearance shocked the country, attracted widespread media attention and sparked intense public speculation about the circumstances of his death. Following the discovery of Cohen’s body, a massive search operation was launched and Wairimu was arrested along with businessman Peter Karanja.
However, in December 2022, the first murder charge brought against Wairimu in the Milimani High Court was dropped for lack of sufficient evidence. The Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) was criticized for failing to provide key evidence such as cell phone data and witness statements, leading to a delay in the case.
Despite the setbacks, fresh results from the investigation have renewed hope for justice and prompted the DA to file new charges against Cohen’s widow. Wiliem, who has consistently maintained her innocence, has also made explosive statements.
She has accused unnamed influential politicians allegedly linked to the former regime of involvement in Cohen’s death and suggested that they are behind a plot to seize her husband’s property and deprive her of her inheritance. She also alleged that the police were involved in covering up the nature of the crime.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Subscribe to our newsletter To complicate matters further, Senior Superintendent John Gachomo, who was then with the Metropolitan Police, said in an affidavit filed in the High Court that he was misled into believing that a Court of Appeal judge was involved in the murder case.
Gachomo later denied the contents of that affidavit and claimed he was manipulated by former District Police Chief George Kinoti. This new revelation introduced new inconsistencies into the case, and the district attorney asked for time to investigate the allegations and reconsider the indictment.
The decision to reinstate the indictment followed a key ruling by Chief Judge Eric Wambo Otieno of Milimani on September 9, 2024. Justice Otieno refused to close the public inquiry into Cohen’s death, saying such a matter of public interest requires substantiated evidence from the DPP before any action can be taken.
Judge Otieno emphasized that the public interest in the case justified a thorough investigation and that the prosecutor’s informal statements were not a valid reason to close the investigation.
