The High Court has directed that Sarah Wairimu Cohen be remanded until February 3, pending a bail hearing.
This follows the court’s decision to decline an application by the prosecution, which sought to have Wairimu subjected to another mental assessment test before pleading to the murder charges of her late husband, Dutch billionaire Tob Chichou Cohen.
Appearing before Lady Justice Diana Kavedza, Wairimu pleaded not guilty to the charges of murdering the businessman.
The charges presented to the court fall under Section 203 of the Penal Code, which pertains to murder.
A photo of the statue outside the Nairobi Law Courts
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Judiciary
According to a statement by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Wairimu in the company of others not present in the court joined forces on the night of July 19 and 20 2019, Â at Lower Kabete area within Nairobi County and murdered Cohen.
The Prosecution had requested that Wairimu be taken for another mental assessment before pleading to the charges. Denying the request, Judge Kavedza said Wairimu had undergone the same test in 2019 when she was arrested over the matter.
She ordered that the 2019 mental assessment test be presented in court and after they were presented, she directed Wairimu to take a plea on the case and went ahead to set a bail hearing for February 3.
Wairimu was rearrested on Friday, January 24, after the DPP found new evidence against her in the murder of the Dutchman.
She was first arrested in 2019 when the Dutchman’s body was found in a septic tank on July 19 in the Lower Kabete Area. She however told the authorities that her husband was murdered and thrown in the septic tank while she was in police custody.
Two years ago, the case was withdrawn after the then DPP Noordin Haji informed a Nairobi court of his decision to withdraw the case against Wairimu and her co-accused.
He further stated that, instead of pursuing the murder case, the court should order an inquest to be conducted at the Milimani Law Courts.
The case was however reopened after DPP Benson Ingonga found that there was overwhelming evidence showing that Wairimu murdered her husband.
Businessman Tob Cohen whose body was found murdered on September 13, 2019 and wife Sarah Cohen