Four police officers among them two in late Willie Kimani's murder trial have been released on Sh500,00 bond after they pleaded not guilty to new murder charges at Machakos High Court.
They appeared before Judge George Odunga on Thursday.
The suspects are chief inspector Stephen Lelei (former Mlolongo OCS), senior sergeant Fredrick Leliman, Sargent Leonard Mwangi and police constable Wilson Kimani.
Leliman and Mwangi are facing Willie Kimani’s murder case at the Milimani High Court.
The four are accused of jointly murdering Peter Mutua Musyoka on June 2, 2016, at an unknown place in Machakos.
Odunga said all the accused persons should be admitted to a bond of Sh500,000 with one surety each to secure their release.
All of the suspects have been under police custody at Machakos and Industrial Area prisons.
“The surety will be approved by the deputy registrar of this court,” Odunga said.
“If they are released, they should attend the court whenever they are required and not interfere with prosecution witnesses or the manner prosecution is conducting its case.”
The prosecution said it had lined up 20 witnesses in the case.
The suspects will be returned to court on November 7 and 8 for hearing.
Odunga issued the orders after the suspects’ lawyers pleaded with the court to grant their clients lenient bond terms.
“The first accused suffered stroke in 2018, we are praying for lenient bond terms,” the lawyer said.
“The second and third accused, we are grateful for the prosecution for accepting our wish for them to be admitted to bail. The purpose is to allow the accused persons to attend trials when they are required.”
Another lawyer said the two have been in remand custody since 2016 and are waiting for judgment in the matter and as such, they are still deemed innocent.
“Their stay in remand has drained them financially since they are no longer in service,” he said.
“We plead that they are granted lenient bond terms that they can meet and not a situation where bail and bond terms issued are not attainable to them. Rights of the accused persons are instrumental.”
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
