• Ombeta asked Owino who told him Leliman was the one with the police pocket radio that placed him at the murder scene.
• Owino told him that it was the OCS who told him and some of his colleagues.
Image: ENOS TECHE
The defence in lawyer Willie Kimani's murder case yesterday put up a spirited fight to absolve their clients from the charge.
For the second day, lawyer Cliff Ombeta cross-examined lead investigator Robert Owino, poking holes into his testimony.
Ombeta and Katwa Kigen fought to clear police officers Fredrick Leliman and Sylvia Wanjiku.
Ombeta asked Owino who told him Leliman was the one with the police pocket radio that placed him at the murder scene.
Owino told him that it was the OCS who told him and some of his colleagues.
"Did you get an abstract just to show who signed for the said radio?" Ombeta asked.
Owino said that there was a special register for issuing radio and firearms but he did not see or ask for any register.
Ombeta also wanted to know who saw Leliman on duty with the radio on June 23 when the three were murdered.
The lawyer further posed to him how he confirmed that Leliman was at work on that day since his driver did not go to work, adding that even the OCS who was questioned said he didn't know who was on duty on date 22 and 23.
"Who specifically saw Leliman on that day? Is there anybody who saw him with that radio on that specific day?" Ombeta asked.
Owino said that he was not in a position to tell the court what time the police radio was at the murder scene at Soweto.
The court was told that there was no motive to link the Sylvia Wanjiku, the third accused, to the murder of the three.
Kigen for Wanjiku asked Owino why he decided to charge Wanjiku.
Owino said it was because she did not book the three victims in the OB as is the procedure and there were inconsistencies in her statement.
Owino confirmed that in investigations he could not tell what motive she had to kill the three, unlike Leliman who had a misunderstanding with Mwenda.
Owino said by failing to act procedurally by not booking the victims in the official record, she conspired with the others to commit the crime.
Kigen also asked Owino if he was happy and satisfied with what he had done.
"You can't do work that you are not proud of," Owino said.
Katwa said that according to Wanjiku's statement she reported to duty at 6am, had a break at 11am to attend to personal errands and left Mwita briefly to stand in for her, met with Cheburet and came back to station at noon.
However, Owino said there was a systematic conspiracy to conceal the fact that the three were in custody.
Kigen asked if it was conspiring or failing in duty on the part of Wanjiku. But Owino said it was a conspiracy.
Owino said ordinarily you cannot put a suspect in cells without recording them in the OB.
“Is it true that you do not know the time that the three victims who were in the cell were picked?” Kigen asked.
Owino told the court that he did not know the time they were brought in or removed from the cell.
Kigen posed to him that, "Based on the confession statement, do you see what time they were removed from the container?"
“I can't answer that. I am not in a position to say anything on the timing,” he said.
Kigen also asked if Wanjiku, as a female officer who was manning the station at the time the three male victims were brought, could search them.
Owino said procedurally there is no way a female officer could conduct a search on male suspects, so Wanjiku according to protocol could not have done it.
“In your statement, you said Sylvia was consistent that she never saw anyone being brought at the cell on that day?” Katwa posed.
Owino said she was categorical that no one was brought in but later on she had added the information that she had stepped out of the station at 11am and came back at noon, which was not in her first statement.