Kenyan wife of missing Dutch billionaire Tob Cohen to face murder charges

Kenyan wife of missing Dutch billionaire Tob Cohen to face murder charges

Sarah Wairimu Cohen, the wife of missing Dutch national Tob Cohen, is set to face murder charges following the mysterious disappearance of her husband.

The prosecution on Thursday preferred murder charges against Wairimu, but she did not take plea as the court directed that she undergo a mental assessment before answering to the charges.

According to charge sheet, Sarah Wairimu Cohen is alleged to have killed Tob Chichou Cohen on the night of 19th and 20th, July, 2019 within Nairobi County jointly with others not before the court.

During Thursday’s session, the defense led by lawyer Phillip Murgor strongly opposed to the charge saying that there is no complete charge before the court.

“Before there’s an application for mental assessment the documents must be complete,” said Murgor.

Murgor, while challenging the two-page charge sheet, said that there is no body of the deceased adding that before the mental assessment is done on his client, all the documents must be served on the defense.

“We want the evidence that supports the charge,” Murgor said.

State prosecutor Catherine Mwaniki, however, submitted that there are witnesses who need to be protected, adding that the prosecution is satisfied and that’s why it has preferred the murder charge.

Mwaniki said that they can charge without the body, adding that the accused has to undergo a mental checkup before answering to the charge of murder.

The matter will be mentioned on Monday, September 16.

Meanwhile, Murgor had accused one of the investigating officers of sexually assaulting his client.

According to Murgor, a Mr. Mwangi has been asking for sexual favours from the accused with a promise that he will assist her in the matter — a submission that was strongly opposed by Mwaniki.

Addressing the media after the court session, Gabrielle Van Straten, a sister of the missing tycoon, said that she’s hoping for the truth and justice.

She said that the family still has a lot of doubts with Wairimu, adding that they want to know her role in the alleged disappearance of their brother.

“The police have been working quite hard and taking the matter seriously, in the meantime we hope the period that we will be in the country that we will find all the answers that we need,” said Gabrielle.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, the emotional sister went on to say that she wants to know what happened to her brother, adding that Cohen loved the country, and he never wanted to go back to his home country – Netherlands.

“Cohen loved this country, he was fond of it, and he promoted and invested largely in the golf and Safari industry,” she said.

Tob Cohen is reported to have gone missing between July 19 and July 20 this year. The tours and travel magnate had lived in Kenya for 32 years.

He and Wairimu were reportedly embroiled in a bitter divorce case which saw him file assault charges against her a week before he went missing.

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