Strathmore University lecturer accused of killing wife freed on bond

A Strathmore University lecturer who is accused of killing his wife at their home in Lavington, Nairobi, has been released on a bond of Ksh.100,000 pending investigations.

High Court Judge Luka Kimaru also ordered the accused, Dr. Fredrick Onyango Ogolla, to present himself before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) homicide section today (Monday) to assist police with further investigations.

Judge Luka Kimaru released Dr. Ogolla after his lawyer, Steve Kimathi, made an application to have him released on bond.

Kimathi had argued that the accused has a constitutional right to be released on bail/bond pending the hearing and determination of her case.

“Ogolla has been in custody since he was arraigned in court on January 3, 2018 and the right to be released on bail is guaranteed under the law,” argued Lawyer Kimathi.

The prosecution at the same time requested to be granted two more days to complete their investigations.

The matter will be mentioned in two days’ time.

Police suspect that Dr. Ogola physically assaulted his 27-year-old wife, Rebecca Gobi Mwachongo, on December 31, 2017 leading to her death.

“She was taken to hospital unconscious after that evening fight but she succumbed to her injuries,” said Nairobi County Police Commander Japheth Koome immediately after the incident.

Dr. Ogolla, however denies killing or having a fight with his late wife on the fateful evening and maintains that her death was “unfortunate”.

A postmortem conducted on the body of Ms. Mwachongo indicated that she had no physical injuries.

“She had a blood clot in the left atrium, but we cannot attribute this to anything at the moment,” said Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor.