Suspect in death of Keroche heiress faults investigators

Omar Lali, the boyfriend of the Keroche Breweries heiress Tecra Muigai, has questioned the pace of police investigations into the death of his lover.

Through his lawyer Yusuf Abubakar, Mr Lali accuses Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives of dragging their feet in the case.

He says the days the police sought from the court to conclude their inquiries were more than enough and they ought to have concluded their investigations.

The lawyer said that when the post-mortem results came out, prosecutors requested more days to conduct toxicology tests (an analysis of potential toxins), something that could have been done within the time they had been given by the court.

The court allowed prosecutors to hold Mr Lali for 21 days as they investigated the death. After the post-mortem exam, they asked the court for five morel days, but the court declined.

Mr Abubakar says the country has advanced technology that enables toxicology tests in a few days, “but they waited until the days they had been given lapsed and came to request ... more days.”

The post-mortem exam conducted on May 12 at Nairobi’s Lee Funeral Home showed that the injuries were consistent with a fall down a staircase.

Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor, who led the procedure, said Tecra died of injuries she suffered on the left side of her head.

But the family is said to have termed the outcome inconclusive and demanded further analysis, which involves toxicology tests.

A police source told the Saturday Nation that the toxicology tests are to determine, among other things, whether Tecra could have been poisoned.

But Mr Abubakar said the delay in charging his client in court is deliberate. “The police are not doing independent investigations. There are three teams of officers doing investigations into a single case. Officers from the Coast could not be given the job; it had to be officers from Nairobi. This should tell you that something is cooking.”

The lawyer also said that police had not shared with the defence the post-mortem results. The police argued that giving the results to the defence would jeopardise investigations.

He said Mr Lali had cooperated with the police since the investigation started and should face a fair case.

The police say Mr Lali has a case to answer, with sources telling the Saturday Nation that they plan to charge him with murder.

The police insist that the suspect pushed Tecra to her death. There are reports that there was an argument between them before she fell, a claim that the lawyer has vehemently rejected.

Tecra is said to have fallen from the stairs in a private house in Shella on Lamu Island where she was staying with Mr Lali.

After falling, a source said, Tecra was taken to a local dispensary and later airlifted to Nairobi for treatment, but she succumbed to her injuries.