Popular football player arrested over woman’s murder
According to a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Byron Billy Owuor, with his accomplice, attacked the woman, identified as Ms Grace Awino Adero, who was operating an M-Pesa shop within the Kondele area.
A former Kisumu All-Stars player is in custody for the violent robbery and murder of a 23-year-old businesswoman in Kisumu’s Kondele area.
Investigations by police in Kondele have also led them to an AK47 rifle allegedly used in the murder and 36 rounds of ammunition in the incident that happened in January this year.
According to a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Byron Billy Owuor, with his accomplice, attacked the woman, identified as Ms Grace Awino Adero, who was operating an M-Pesa shop within the Kondele area.
“The two armed merchants of death accosted her and her husband on January 27, robbing them of the day's proceeds and shooting her dead. The husband narrowly escaped,” read the report.
The cold-blooded killers, believed to be members of a gang, then escaped on an unmarked motorcycle, joining the rest of the gang at a hideout in Kasagam, Kisumu County.
Hours later, Kasagam police on beat patrol spotted and challenged five occupants of a suspicious saloon car (KDL 301P Toyota Axio) found parked at a concealed place but fled, abandoning the vehicle.
On searching it, an AK47 (without a magazine) and a homemade pistol capable of firing were recovered alongside four mobile phones.
Analysis by ballistic experts
Investigations revealed the vehicle was hired and the rifle had been robbed or obtained from Uganda after analysis by ballistic experts at the DCI forensic lab.
The suspects then holed up for months until April 18 when Mr Owuor, 26, a former footballer for the Kisumu All Stars, was smoked out of his hideout at Obunga in the Kasarani area of Kisumu Central by Kondele police.
He was arraigned at the Winam Senior Principal Magistrate's Court, and detectives were granted 14 days to conclude the investigation.
“After days of interrogation, the investigators established the identity of the ring leader as Robert Wakolo Okoth alias Michael Osama, believed to be the mastermind behind the criminal operations of the syndicate,” read the report.
Kisumu police then launched a sting operation at Osama's home located in Kasagam near Rai Primary School, wherein the suspect's 17-year-old brother, believed to be a member of the gang, was found and arrested.
The police discovered an AK47 magazine loaded with 30 rounds of 7.62*39mm ammunition, six rounds of 38 special ammunition fired by pistols, five ID cards belonging to different persons, a Kenya Armed Forces Comrades Association card, a mobile phone and a green camouflage bag.
The prime suspect and the remaining gang members are still at large.
