Former TV anchor Louis Otieno's murder case has taken a surprise twist after a High Court judge ordered a fresh probe to find out whether he caused the death of the Careen Chepchumba.
Former Kibera Resident Magistrate Charles Ondiek urged the Director of Public Prosecutions to conduct fresh investigations adding that they had bungled the initial inquest.
Justice Ondiek recommended that the forensic evidence be examined again and samples from Otieno's fingernails be taken for documentation.
"It follows that in the absence of forensic evidence and having not considered the circumstantial evidence, the far-reaching conclusion by the team of investigators that there was no evidence to support a theory of murder was hollow, devoid of merit and thus clearly unfounded," the court noted.
[caption caption="Former TV anchor Louis Otieno"]
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Otieno was earlier exonerated of the murder with the court finding that: “The cause of Careen’s death was not suicide, it was not accidental. The cause of death of Careen Chepchumba Kili can not be said to be undetermined. The cause was strangulation. These are inevitable findings.
“Having found no eye witness, forensic evidence was the sure key to unlock criminal culpability by some known person or persons. In fact, this investigation was hinged and turned on a composite of two key evidence namely forensic and circumstantial."
During the court proceedings, The former TV anchor claimed courts that Ms Chepchumba was sexually abused by her father, Mr Hosea Kili, and that the mother knew about it.
Denying involvement in the 26-year-old's murder, Otieno told the court that the deceased confided in him that Mr Kili was not her biological father and used to beat her.
Otieno further dismissed earlier allegations by Mr Kili that her daughter piled debts as she struggled to finance the journalist's lifestyle.
The court heard that when Otieno met Chepchumba, who worked as an Engineer at Kenya Power, he was running consultancy services which earned him sufficient money.
“Before I met her, I owned several Mercedes Benzes, a Land Cruiser and a BMW at various times,” he said.
[caption caption="Former TV anchor Louis Otieno in court"]
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