Dwight, 3 others face life sentence in murder of Venezuelan envoy

Fonseca was found murdered in her Runda residence in Nairobi.

In Summary
  • Dwight was 2012 arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts and charged with the murder of Fonseca.
  • He was charged alongside Ahmed Omindo, Alex Sifuna, Moses Kiprotich and Kirui Chelogoi. Another suspect Mohamed Ahmed Hassan was never captured and warrants of his arrest remain unexecuted to date.
Dwight Sagary with his co-accused Ahmed Omindo, Alex Sifuna, and Moses Kiprotich (Right to Left) at the Milimani law court have been found guilty with the murder of Venezuela ambassador Olga Fonseca on January 25th, 2023./DOUGLAS OKIDDY
Dwight Sagary with his co-accused Ahmed Omindo, Alex Sifuna, and Moses Kiprotich (Right to Left) at the Milimani law court have been found guilty with the murder of Venezuela ambassador Olga Fonseca on January 25th, 2023./DOUGLAS OKIDDY

Former Venezuelan first secretary Dwight Sagaray is staring at a life jail term after he was found guilty of murdering the late envoy Olga Fonseca.

Dwight was 2012 arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts and charged with the murder of Fonseca.

He was charged alongside Ahmed Omindo, Alex Sifuna, Moses Kiprotich and Kirui Chelogoi. Another suspect Mohamed Ahmed Hassan was never captured and warrants of his arrest remain unexecuted to date.

Fonseca was found murdered in her Runda residence in Nairobi.

She was strangled to death on July 26 2012, less than two weeks after arriving in Kenya to head the diplomatic mission.

She replaced former ambassador Gerardo Silva who was facing allegations of sexual harassment by male workers from the embassy.

Olga's body was found lying on her bed with a wire cord around her neck, hands and legs.

In convicting them, Trial Judge Roselyn Korir on Wednesday said the state had proved their case against the accused persons apart from Chelogoi who was acquitted.

The prosecution presented an array of witnesses, 37 in total and produced 39 exhibits that were used to pin down the four.

Korir said the evidence produced in court by the prosecution demonstrated there was an outright conflict between Olga and Dwight.

That glaring conflict provided the motive to eliminate Olga.

The court was able to deduce the hostile and acrimonious relationship between the two through the evidence from the embassy staff.

"I have found their evidence to be credible. They narrated what they saw and experienced. They have no interest in siding with either party," said the Judge.

Employees at the embassy were confused as to who was in charge.

Olga's arrival according to the evidence produced was not only resented by Mohamed and Dwight but also by some of the staff members.

The Court observed that Olga would from time to time complain about the living conditions and disrespect from the staff.

The court noted that the ensuing power struggle was evidenced by the withdrawal of embassy vehicles by Olga from Dwight.

Olga had also wanted door locks at the chancery changed a few days before she was murdered.

The Court in convicting the four considered a confession statement by Moses.

The statement details how Ahmed, Alex, Moses and Mohamed held meetings to discuss the elimination of Olga. The meetings would take place in four different places within Gigiri.

Olga was to be slain for the price of Shs486,000 with Mohammed being the mastermind.

Mohamed lamented how Olga had become a nuisance and wanted her dead. There was also direct evidence placing Mohamed at the residence where Olga was killed.

Even though Dwight was not named in the confession statement, the court said he must have known of the plot to kill but did nothing about it.

The court found that the confession statement which was later recanted by Moses revealed the sole purpose of the meeting to be how Olga would be eliminated.

Mohamed, according to the court, was keen to stop Olga from taking over the embassy.

"There was a common intention between the three and Mohaned playing a leading role to kill Olga," said the court.

The court observed that Dwight had given Mohamed unlimited access to the embassy.

The two were friends and it was clear from various testimonies in court that Dwight had not prepared for Olga's arrival.

Throughout the proceedings, Mohamed loomed large.

A witness also appeared in court and testified that Mohamed was associated with former Defense Minister Yusuf Hajj. He claimed he was their relative.

Korir on Wednesday said evidence showed Mohamed was a well-connected individual.

"He wielded a lot of power and authority at the embassy and the residence. He would at times pay the workers."

Dwight believed Mohamed was a government official after seeing him in photographs posing with influential people in Kenya.

The Court took issue with the failure of the investigating officers to arrest Mohamed.

" The fact that Mohamed has never been arrested shows there was no effort at all from the officers to arrest him."

Korir subsequently directed the Deputy registrar of the High court to forward a copy of the court's judgement to the Director of Public Prosecution for action.

As Chelogoi was acquitted for lack of evidence, Dwight and the other three were whisked away to the Industrial area remand awaiting sentencing on February 16.

WATCH: The latest videos from the Star