A woman accused of killing her tycoon husband during a family vacation in Watamu has been acquitted by a Mombasa court.
Amina Shiraz was charged with murdering businessman Jimmy Baburam in July 2015 at Medina Palms in Watamu.
Shiraz had been charged alongside US national Jacob Schmalze.
Judge Dora Chepkwony said the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts, therefore, the court could not place Shiraz on her defence.
She said the case presented before her failed to meet the threshold of being watertight.
Chepkwony said the prosecution focused on showing that the accused committed the crime due to a love triangle but failed to note that the alleged love triangle was just rumours and suspicions.
She said even though the alleged affair might have been a motive, the prosecution failed to pin the Shiraz to the actual murder.
The prosecution had alleged that the widow had been in a relationship with her co-accused.
The judge further said the court would have relied on the testimony of two witnesses who directly linked the accused to the murder.
The witnesses, Chepkwony said, said they had seen Shiraz and Schamalze drowning the tycoon in the pool.
"However, the two witnesses recorded statements three times with each statement giving out new information."
“Three statements for the two witnesses were recorded with the last one recorded two years after the incident. The contradictions in them devalued them and therefore could not be trusted,” she said.
Chepkwony said the witnesses were also not clear on why they changed their initial statements and did not reveal what they had seen to the police.
She said they only said they had been threatened by Shiraz but did not come out clear on what made them change their minds.
Baburam drowned in a pool when the family had gone for a vacation at Medina Palms hotel with his family.
Edited by R.Wamochie
