Happening Now: NTV KENYA LIVE | Senate Proceedings
Suspect in Dutch tycoon murder re-arrested after Sh400,000 robbery
Timothy Omondi, who is accused of killing Dutchman Herman Rouwenhourst and security guard Evans Bambo Bokolo, at the Shanzu Law Courts on July 26, 2021. He has been re-arrested following accusations of a separate crime.
Barely two months after securing bond following a four-year stint at Shimo La Tewa remand prison for the murder of Dutch tycoon Herman Rouwenhorst, Timothy Omondi Ngowa has once again found himself in trouble with the law.
Mr Omondi is back in custody and under investigation for the armed robbery of businessman Hussein Budow, who lost more than Sh400,000 during a raid on February 17 in Bamburi. He is being held together with Collins Ochieng alias Voke.
According to a police report from Kiembeni Police Station, Mr Budow, 35, was confronted on February 17 at around 11.45 pm at the gate of his compound while driving home from his business premises in Barsheba.
He was accosted by two masked men, one armed with an imitation firearm and the other with a knife and forced onto a waiting motorcycle.
The assailants took him to the Mombasa Cement area, where they coerced him into providing his bank account details and withdrew Sh400,000 from his KCB account, Sh33,000 from his M-Pesa agent till, and Sh38,000 from his personal M-Pesa account.
The assailants are also alleged to have stolen three mobile phones: an Oppo, a Samsung and a Safaricom Neon.
Mr Budow was later abandoned in the Mombasa Cement area unharmed. The scene was visited by officers from Kiembeni Police Station and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations at Kisauni, which is now handling the case.
The Shanzu court has already granted police 21 days to investigate Mr Omondi and his alleged accomplice over the robbery. Mr Omondi had been in custody since 2021 and only left Shimo La Tewa remand prison in late November last year.
Both the police and the prosecution had opposed any attempt to free Omondi pending the determination of the Rouwenhorst murder case.
However, after remaining in custody for four years, the court finally granted him bond, effectively releasing him back to society, where he remained for only two months before being arrested again.
In the murder case, Omondi has been charged alongside the Dutchman's widow, Riziki Ali Cherono. They are accused of murdering Rouwenhorst and night guard Evans Pole Bokoro on June 4, 2021, at the foreigner's Rocco Apartment in Shanzu.
Dramatic turn
Both have denied the charges. The prosecution has called all its witnesses in the case, with the investigating officer now at the final stage of presenting his evidence.
The case took a dramatic turn after at least two key suspects who were either involved in or aware of the planning and execution of the murder turned into State witnesses. In their testimony, they laid bare how the elimination of Mr Rouwenhorst was hatched during a birthday party and drinking spree before it was carried out a month later.
One of those individuals, Mary Nekesa Ambani, is already serving a jail term after striking a deal with the State and providing a detailed account of how the murder was planned and executed, including the roles she played in the entire process.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
