A Malindi court on Monday dismissed an application by a senior police officer who was seeking orders barring the prosecution from charging him with conspiracy to defeat justice.
Chief magistrate Julie Oseko instead charged sergeant Abdi Sheikh with three counts of concealing murder evidence in the case of a Nairobi businessman who was killed while on a family holiday in Watamu, Kilifi county.
Sheikh allegedly committed the offences between July 26 and September 28, 2015, while investigating the death of Jimmy Jagartam Baburam.
The magistrate told the accused that his application lacked merit to justify why he should not take a plea.
Sheikh allegedly received a bribe to conceal murder evidence against the businessman's widow Amina Shiraz, who reportedly colluded with an American fugitive to kill her husband.
Shiraz and the American, who is on the run, have been charged with killing Baburam on July 26, 2015.
It is suspected the two were lovers and conspired to kill Baburum.
Sergeant Sheikh, a former investigations officer from Watamu police station, was also charged with receiving a bribe of Sh25,000 and Sh20,000, respectively, to compromise investigations and to conceal murder evidence.
He denied the offences and was released on Sh300,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount or an alternative Sh250,000 cash bail.
Shiraz is also facing murder charges before a Mombasa court.
