Former aide to ex-governor Okoth Obado, Michael Oyamo, former Migori county aide Caspal Obiero and former Migori Governor Okoth Obado at the Milimani Law Courts/LEAH MUKANGAI
Former Migori County aide Caspal Obiero was not an innocent bystander but an active participant in the chain of events that led to the murder of Rongo University student Sharon Otieno, High Court Judge Cecilia Githua has ruled.
Reading her judgement on Thursday in the high-profile murder case involving former Migori Governor Okoth Obado, his former personal assistant Michael Oyamo and Obiero, Justice Githua said the prosecution had proved Obiero's involvement in the planning and execution of the crime.
"Having thoroughly evaluated the prosecution's case seeking to prove the third accused jointly with the other accused persons planned and executed the intention to cause the death of Sharon, and having compared that evidence with evidence adduced by Obiero, I have come to the conclusion that the former county aide Caspal Obiero was not a passive bystander, but an active participant in the events that resulted in Sharon's death," the judge ruled.
Githua said Obiero's conduct after the murder further undermined his claim of innocence.
"His conduct of assisting Obado's former personal assistant Michael Oyamo to cover his tracks on the night Sharon was killed is incompatible with his innocence," she said.
The judge also pointed to mobile phone data that placed Obiero in frequent communication with former Governor Obado in the days immediately preceding the murder.
"It is also noteworthy that although Obiero testified that he did not report directly to Obado, mobile phone data records showed that on September 2, 2018, and September 3, 2018, Obado called Obiero five times," Justice Githua observed.
"The number of calls on days that were just before or on the day the offence was committed gives a reasonable inference that the calls were made for purposes connected to the offence that was committed."
The findings formed part of the High Court's judgement in one of Kenya's most closely watched murder cases, nearly eight years after the brutal killing of Sharon and her unborn child shocked the nation.
Sharon was 26 years old at the time of her death. She was a student at Rongo University and a mother and was approximately seven months pregnant when she was killed.
Court proceedings heard that on September 3, 2018, Sharon and journalist Barack Oduor attended a meeting at a hotel in Rongo after they had been invited by Michael Oyamo, who was then serving as former Governor Obado's personal assistant.
After leaving the hotel, the pair were allegedly lured into a waiting vehicle, where they were abducted by several men.
During the journey, Oduor managed to escape by jumping from
the moving vehicle near Nyangweso Market along the Homa Bay-Kisumu Road. He
alerted police, triggering a search for Sharon.
The following day, September 4, 2018, Sharon's body was found in a thicket near Kodera Forest in Uriri, Homa Bay County. Her killing, together with that of her unborn child, sparked nationwide outrage and attracted widespread public attention.
