NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 23 – The High Court has found former Migori Governor Okoth Obado, his former personal assistant Michael Oyamo and former Migori County Clerk Caspal Obiero guilty of the 2018 murder of university student Sharon Otieno.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Cecilia Githua ruled that the prosecution had proved its case against the three accused beyond reasonable doubt, finding that they acted with a common intention to murder Sharon.
“It is therefore my finding that the prosecution has proved this case against the first accused, the second and the third accused persons beyond reasonable doubt,” Justice Githua ruled.
“I consequently find each accused person guilty of the offence of murder contrary to Section 203 of the Penal Code as charged in Count One. Each accused is accordingly convicted under Section 322 of the Criminal Procedure Code.”
The judge held that Obado had a clear motive, finding that Sharon’s pregnancy was at the centre of the events that culminated in her killing.
“My thorough analysis of the evidence adduced by both the prosecution and the defence shows that the first accused’s claim that he had accepted the deceased’s pregnancy or that he was comfortable with it was, in my considered opinion, not sincere and was not true,” Justice Githua said.
According to the court, testimony from prosecution witnesses, including Sharon’s mother, established that Obado had pressured Sharon to terminate the pregnancy and allegedly gave her Sh30,000 to procure an abortion. Sharon declined after consulting her mother and resolved to keep the pregnancy.
“The totality of the evidence adduced in this case shows that this particular pregnancy formed the basis of subsequent events, which culminated in the unlawful death of the deceased,” the judge said.
Justice Githua further held that the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence formed an unbroken chain linking the three accused to the murder.
“I am satisfied that the circumstances presented in this case, taken cumulatively, form a chain so complete that there is no escape from the conclusion that the accused persons, jointly with others not before the court, committed the offence charged,” she ruled.
“The evidence on record irresistibly points to the fact that the accused persons, with malice aforethought, unlawfully caused the death of Sharon at the material time.”
During his defence, Obado denied murdering Sharon or conspiring with anyone to kill her.
“I did not kill Sharon Otieno. I did not conspire with my two co-accused persons or anyone to kill the late Sharon Otieno. I did not procure anybody to kill the late Sharon Otieno,” he told the court.
He admitted having a romantic relationship with Sharon and acknowledged he was the father of her unborn child but said he had ended the relationship, had no intention of marrying her and continued providing her with financial support.
The court, however, found that while financial support may have continued, the evidence that Obado sought to have Sharon terminate the pregnancy fundamentally undermined his claim that he had accepted it.
All three accused were convicted of murder, with the court expected to set a date for sentencing.
Sharon, who was about seven months pregnant when she was abducted and killed in September 2018, was found dead in Homa Bay County in a case that shocked the nation and triggered one of Kenya’s most closely watched murder trials.
