A former police officer charged with the murder of Alexander Monson has refuted claims that he planted drugs on him to fix him.
Charles Munyiri who was in charge of the Tourism Police Unit at the Diani police station in Kwale denied that he tended to plant evidence on suspects who had refused to bribe to be released.
He said the drugs which were handed over to him by one of the junior officers were recovered from Monson.
Munyiri is among four officers who were charged with murdering Monsoon, the son of British aristocrat Nicholas Monson.
The accused were found to have a case to answer by Judge Erick Ogola and were put on trial.
Munyiri, Naftali Chege, John Pamba and Ismael Baraka were all charged with murdering Monson on May 19, 2012, at Diani police station.
Munyiri told the court that drugs in an envelope plus a stub of bhang were Monson’s and he had confessed ownership of them.
“It is not true that the drugs were implanted on the deceased to justify his illegal detention. I have never planted exhibits on any suspect for the years I have served,” he said.
Munyiri said he did not have a reason to plant the drugs on Monson as he had never met him.
He said they could not grant him a police bond because he was not able to produce his passport and therefore had to detain him until the following day.
Munyiri faced an uphill task in explaining why he did not record the drugs on an exhibit book.
He could also not explain how a man arrested alongside Monson was released yet they were all in the car that allegedly contained the drugs.
“It is not true that I was bribed to release the other man. The man was released after the arresting officer informed me that they intended to use him as a witness against the deceased,” he said.
Munyiri further told the court that the decision to launch a police inquest was recommended by the DCIO after Monson’s death.
“I did not mean to conceal the truth when I launched an inquest. I wanted to unravel how he died because when I saw him the previous night, he was healthy,” Munyiri said.
He said he suspects the deceased got the head injuries at Tandoori club where a bouncer had attempted to throw him out after he started smoking bhang.
Munyiri said the bouncer disappeared and he suspects that he ran away to escape justice.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
