• Esther Nduta Muthama told the trial court that on the night of June 23, they went back home with Leliman at 9pm as the news broadcast started.
• Nduta said Leliman did not leave the house thereafter. She said they have been married for more than 15 years,
Image: ENOS TECHE
The wife of Fredrick Leliman, the alleged mastermind of the 2016 killings of lawyer Willie Kimani and two others, was on Tuesday hard-pressed to explain where he was on that night, giving contradictory evidence.
Esther Nduta Muthama told the trial court that on the night of June 23, they went back home with Leliman at 9pm as the news broadcast started.
Nduta said Leliman did not leave the house thereafter. She said they have been married for more than 15 years.
She told court Leliman had earlier in the day returned home at midday and "we had lunch and rested until about 3 to 4pm".
Nduta said her husband then received a phone call from his boss requiring him to go to Athi River. She asked him to drop her at Mulley Supermarket so that she could go to a bar they owned.
It was her testimony that Leliman picked her later in the evening at about 8pm and they took almost an hour to get home "and the news had just started".
However, during cross-examination by victims' counsel, Nduta was shown phone data records that showed Leliman was nowhere near the home as she had claimed in her evidence.
The lawyer asked her to explain why at 9.25pm on June 23, Leliman receive a call and the data showed he was at Mlolongo Gwata area, which is far from his house.
"Is your house at Mlolongo Gwata area?" the lawyer asked, to which Nduta said "no".
“Check at 9.50pm, did he receive a call and where was he?" the lawyer asked.
“Yes, he received a call and phone data shows he was at Mlolongo police station," Nduta responded
“And this is the time you claim you were with him in the house? Or had he given his phone to someone else?” the lawyer posed.
Nduta told court that she could not explain the exact time they got home and hers was just an estimation, but insisted that when they got home there there was a news broadcast.
Earlier in the day, Nduta’s sister Philomena Muthama also testified, telling the court that she was with her brother-in-law, Leliman, in the morning hours of June 23.
Philomena said Leliman had taken her to the Security of Government Buildings Unit in Madaraka where he was to assist her get a redeployment.
Philomena, who worked at the same unit, said she was not happy with her unit and wanted to be redeployed.
She said Leliman drove her there where they met a friend, a chief inspector, who took them to the boss.
However, she was put to task to explain why she didn’t follow procedures instead of asking for favours, to which she said it was the easy way out and Leliman, as a brother-in-law, could help.
The officer, who allegedly took them to see the boss at the SGB unit also testified for Leliman, saying he was a good police officer.
Retired chief inspector Francis Kimani Gaturu said he worked with Leliman at SGB and VIP Protection
"We were in the same unit. I was his boss and he was a senior sergeant who was honest in his job. I know him as a good police officer," Gaturu said.
However, he was put to task during cross examination to explain how he remembered vividly the events of June 23 but could not remember when Leliman joined SGB or when he left.
Gaturu said Leliman was at one point attached to the late Security Minister John Michuki and as well as Chris Murungaru.
The case resumes today.