A key witness who was present on the day Nairobi businessman Jimmy Baburam died at Medina Palms resort in Watamu has revealed he saw the deceased’s widow and her alleged American lover ‘drowning’ him.
The witness testified yesterday before High Court judge Dora Chepkwony sitting at the Amani villa swimming pool where Baburam died on the night of July 26, 2015.
The witness, only called PWW because he is under witness protection, told Chepkwony he saw Amina Shiraz, Baburam’s widow, and the American fugitive Jacob Schmalze ‘drowning’ Baburam at the swimming pool.
Shiraz and Schmalze are accused of murdering Baburam in a suspected love triangle while on a family holiday on July 26, 2015 at Medina Palms.
On the day, the witness revealed he was on patrol about 20 metres from the swimming pool and saw the two murder suspects struggling with Baburam who was inside the pool.
The court heard that he rushed towards the scene, but found they had dragged Baburam to the shallow waters about one metre deep from where he had initially seen them.
He said upon reaching the scene to assist, the man was lying beside the pool; his wife said he was epileptic and developed the condition while swimming.
The witness who was addressing the court at the swimming pool said later while Baburam was laying lifeless, Shiraz rushed to help Schmalze who had injuries and told him to keep off as the issue was a family matter.
Those present at the ‘murder’ scene included the judge, her clerk, the accused, her family members, the late businessman’s family members and lawyers from both sides and the assistant director of public prosecutions Vincent Monda.
Journalists were not allowed to cover the sitting as the witness is under protection.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Jared Magolo questioned the witness on why he never raised the alarm when he saw the incident. He said he first wanted to go and see what was going on.
He further sought to know the education background and professional training for the duties he was doing. The judge also rejected a forensic expert witness from the prosecution who testified using a report signed by another officer and told the prosecution to bring the author of the report. The hearing will be between January 21-25.