Former MP Patrick Muiruri has told a Nairobi court that businessman Tob Cohen feared for his life and warned him to hold his wife, Sarah Wairimu Kamotho, responsible if anything happened to him.
Testifying in the murder trial of Wairimu before Lady Justice Diana Rachel Kavedza on Monday, Muiruri said Cohen made the chilling remark during their last conversation on July 19, 2019, days before he went missing.
Muiruri, who described Cohen as his friend of 30 years, told the court that the businessman had planned to divorce Wairimu, citing alleged theft of property documents, misuse of company funds and prolonged marital problems.
He also recounted a disagreement between the couple at a wedding in December 2018, during which Wairimu allegedly told Cohen, “This is not your house.”
Another witness, law firm clerk Mary Mutisya, testified that Wairimu had asked her to search land records relating to Cohen’s property and later sent her money through M-Pesa to follow up on an application to withdraw a caveat registered against the property.
Government analyst John Mungai presented exhibits in court, including clothing allegedly belonging to Cohen, a curtain recovered from the water tank where his body was found, a red robe and a yellow polythene bag that had covered the body.
The prosecution, led by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Vincent Monda, presented three witnesses during the hearing.
The trial resumes on October 14, 2026.