Driver reveals how he found body of Justice Otieno Odek

Driver reveals how he found body of Justice Otieno Odek

Police in Kisumu have launched investigations into the death of Court of Appeal Judge Justice Otieno Odek.

He was found dead laying on his bed inside an apartment near  Kisumu Central Police Station.

A police officer privy to details of the report told Citizen Digital that a driver dropped off Justice Odek at the apartment on Thursday last week.

He is said to have left the apartment the next day, driving his official car.

The caretaker of the apartment said the judge returned later that night.

On Saturday, Odek’s driver told Citizen Digital that he reported to the apartment to pick him up at 7 am as was the norm.

He narrated how he waited until around 7.30am and became suspicious when the judge did not come out of his room.

A room attendant went up to check and reportedly rang the door bell several times; there was no response.

Attempts to call him on phone were also futile as all his three mobile lines went unanswered.

This prompted the driver to call the police.

When they broke down the door, they found the judge laying on the bed  face up.

A government pathologist later examined the body before it was moved to the Aga Khan Hospital mortuary.

Reports indicate that the pathologist revealed that there was a possibility that Judge Odek could have died on Friday.

The pathologist also noted that the deceased had bruises on his right hand.

He had been expected to join his colleagues Justices Patrick Kiage and Milton Makhandia for a chamber hearing in Kisumu.

Justice Odek was expected to join his two colleagues to deliver ruling on an appeal case filed to challenge the decision of the lower court on the closure of Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries over pollution.

The deceased had also been on the lineup as Prosecution witness against lawyer Tom Ojienda in the Mumias sugar graft case.

Meanwhile, President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a message of condolence to the family terming it as a big blow to the legal fraternity.

“He was not only a distinguished Judge but also a prolific legal scholar who was widely published and celebrated across the continent and beyond,” the President said in a statement.

Judge Odek served as the Director of the Judiciary Training Institute from 2016 to 2018 having become a Court of Appeal judge in 2012.

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