• One suspect said the colleague was drunk and opted to swim back from expedition
• Body was found near Tanzania waters with strangulation marks, postmortem showed it as cause of death
Two Migori fishermen who strangled their colleague in Lake Victoria have been found guilty of manslaughter.
Jared Ochieng' and Benard Wesonga killed Emmanuel Oteyo while on a fishing expedition on the night of August 1, 2017. A third suspect, Ayecho Ouma, who was part of the fishing party, is still on the run.
Migori High Court judge Anthony Mrimo said he was not convinced it was murder because the prosecution failed to prove the killing was planned.
Oteyo, a seasoned fisherman, went fishing as usual in the company of his three colleagues. Ochieng’ was in charge of the hired boat.
Raphael Okeyo Obel, the boat owner, went to see Ochieng’ at his home around 7pm and finalised plans for omena. He then accompanied Ochieng’ to the lakeshore to see his boat and the other fishermen as was the tradition.
It was required of any owner of a fishing boat to personally see and maintain the records of the fishermen using his or her boat before they set out into the lake.
Judith Akoth, Obel’s wife who deals in the omena business, was to receive the fishermen and pay them accordingly for services rendered. As usual, on the morning of August 2, 2017, she was at the shore.
“When the fishermen finally arrived, they were less by one person. They were three instead of four. I asked Ochieng’ where the fourth one was and but he kept quiet,” she told the court.
Akoth, perturbed by the cold response, insisted to know where the other fisherman was before she could pay them.
“Ochieng’ then pulled me aside and told me that the other fisherman had instead opted to swim ashore. Shocked, I asked another lady, to rush to confirm if Oteyo was at home. He wasn’t home so I informed my husband,” she continued.
Obel and the beach leader reported the issue at Muhuru Bay police post after searching through the village without success and the two fishermen who accompanied Oteyo were arrested.
Oteyo's body was retrieved on August 4, 2017, near the Tanzanian waters and the body taken for postmortem.
The autopsy showed that the cause of death was strangulation. During the examination, Dr Sylvester Olango found that the deceased’s neck bones had been broken and he had many raptured small blood vessels (petechia) that looked like pimples around the neck.
Olango further stated that petechia can only occur before death and cannot occur when one is drowning.
“Petechia around the neck strongly suggested throttling of the neck by strangulation. Water can, however, find its way into the lungs even after one dies from a cause which is not drowning and is then thrown into water."
The accused denied the offence and stuck to the script, blaming Oteyo for being drunk and opting to swim ashore before they were done fishing.
They said Oteyo told them he was so tired and wanted to return home and sleep, and that it was around 11pm yet they were to fish until the following morning. They were not aware of what happened to the deceased thereafter.
In her ruling, the judge said, “It is possible that the deceased decided to swim back to the shore, but such a decision can only be taken very sparingly in view of the dangers of the lake especially in the night including the extreme cold.”
She said Ochieng’, knowing that the deceased made a decision which was dangerous to his own life, ought to have brought the matter to the attention of the beach leader, the boat owner or the police.
They will be sentenced later.
Edited by R.Wamochie