Court told Tob Cohen raised alarm over assault before his death

A senior police officer has told a Nairobi court that Tob Cohen had already reported being assaulted and was on the verge of seeing his wife arrested, months before he went missing and was later found dead in a septic tank.

Superintendent James Murigu told the High Court in Kibera that Cohen walked into Parklands Police Station in February 2019 complaining that he had been attacked by Sarah Wairimu Kamotho. At the time, Murigu was the Officer Commanding Station.

“I was the OCS at Parklands Police Station when Cohen reported that Sarah had assaulted him on the face and legs,” he said.

Murigu told the court that Cohen came with medical records and was issued with a P3 form to support his complaint. Police then moved to arrest Sarah and pursue charges against her.

He said officers had already been sent out to arrest her, but the case changed course after Cohen later wrote to police in April 2019 saying he no longer wanted to continue with the complaint. After that, the matter was dropped.

Murigu added that Cohen appeared to have reconsidered his position, and no further action was taken at that stage. However, after Cohen was reported missing, the file was taken over by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

The court also heard from a former employee who described alleged instructions given after Cohen’s disappearance.

Matthew Muiruri Kinyanjui told the court that Sarah called him and two other workers into the kitchen on July 22, 2019, and told them not to disclose anything about Cohen’s whereabouts.

He said they were instructed to tell anyone asking that Cohen had travelled to Thailand.

Kinyanjui also testified that while moving around the compound during a break, he noticed fresh concrete covering the septic tank and two other areas within the property.

He later learnt through media reports that Cohen’s body had been recovered from the septic tank.

The trial was briefly interrupted after Sarah fainted in the dock just before crime scene investigator Benutychus Wanjoji was due to play a video showing officers retrieving the body.

A prison warder alerted the court after she slumped forward, leading Justice Diana Kavedza to adjourn the proceedings.