DPP Withdraws Murder Charges Against Slain Dutch Tycoon Tob Cohen’s Widow Sarah Wairimu

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has withdrawn the murder charges against Sarah Wairimu, the widow of slain Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen.

Wairimu and two others had been charged with murdering Cohen, who went missing on July 19th, 2019, before he was found dead about two months later on September 13th.

In a notice dated November 29th, Deputy DPP Jacinta Nyamosi said she was instructed to withdraw the murder case against Wairimu and her co-accused and instead have it registered as an inquest.

“I have been directed by the Director of Public Prosecutions to inform the Honourable Court that we have filed a Nolle Prosequi in the above matter and withdrawn the murder case against Sarah Wairimu Kamotho and Peter Karanja in the exercise of the DPP’s mandate under Article 157 of the Constitution and section 82(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code,” read the notice.

"The DPP has directed that this matter be handled via inquest to be filed in the Chief Magistrates court `Milimani Nairobi…This will enable the contradictions that have affected the proceedings of this matter to be heard in detail by all parties. In addition, this will provide an opportunity for parties to present any information that had not been explored substantially before the court.”

The move comes a month after Wairimu, through her lawyer, called for fresh investigations into her husband’s murder following allegations that former DCI director George Kinoti may have forced a detective to falsely implicate her in the murder.

The decomposed body of Cohen, who had lived in Kenya for 32 years, was discovered in an underground tank at his lavish home in Nairobi’s Kitisuru estate. 

A postmortem revealed that the deceased suffered severe head trauma inflicted by a blunt object and succumbed to a blow to the right side of the head. The 71-year-old was buried at the Jewish Cemetery in Nairobi on September 24th, 2019.

A month before his death, Cohen had reportedly complained of harassment and denial of his conjugal rights by his estranged wife.