Slain Dutchman Tob Cohen’s Siblings Ask Court Not to Release Sarah Wairimu, Say Their Lives Would be in Danger

The siblings of slain Dutch businessman Tob Cohen are opposing the release of his wife, Sarah Wairimu on bail.

In affidavits filed in court, Bernard Cohen and his sister Gabrielle Van Straten say Wairimu, who is the prime suspect in the murder of her husband, should not be granted bail.

The two argue that their lives would be in danger should the court free her on bail since they are direct family members of deceased as well as prosecution witnesses. They claim that they are worried that they could be possible targets for elimination should Wairimu be released.

"As family members of the deceased, whom the applicant is suspected to have murdered, I'm apprehensive about my safety as a witness in the trial, should the applicant be released on bail."

"I have a reasonable apprehension that given the gruesome manner in which the deceased person in this matter met his death, family members of the deceased could be targets for elimination," Benard and Gabrielle say in the affidavits.

Benard and Gabrielle also aver that Wairimu could interfere with evidence and witnesses lined up to testify against her. The two cited a ruling by a Kiambu court that found Wairimu had tutored witnesses to give false testament on her husband's movements. 

"That in a ruling on September 2, 2019, by Kiambu chief magistrate P. Gichohi ... the court established that the suspect herein had interfered with witnesses and evidence, that having interfered with the said witnesses once before, there was no guarantee that she cannot do it again, and as such that alone was a compelling reason to warrant her detention and denial of the bail," the affidavits further read.

Wairimu, who was set to plead to murder charges on Thursday, was remanded until October 1st, 2019 until the issue of her representation is dealt with. 

The defense team told the court that Wairimu’s lawyer, Murgor was still attached to Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) but Murgor insisted that he resigned early this year.

Cohen was buried at the Jewish cemetery in Nairobi on Wednesday in presence of Wairimu, who was escorted to the burial site by five prison warders from Lang’ata Women’s Prison.