Tom Osinde murder: Witness opposes prime suspect's release on bond
Former Treasury official Tom Osinde whose body was recovered from River Kuja in Migori County and Julius Mogoi (right), the prime suspect in Osinde's murder.
A witness in the murder of former Treasury official Tom Osinde, wants the prime suspect Julius Mogoi detained further, for posing as a threat to his life and that of other witnesses.
Mr Samson Onderi, a prosecution witness in the ),murder case told the court that the suspect Mr Julius Mogo(30 who is his neighbour in Kisii-is a dangerous man who is capable of harming anyone, should he be released from custody.
In his application to oppose the suspect's release on bond, Mr Onderi explained to the court how Mr Mogoi one time assaulted his neighbour with a machete and also threatened to kill his own mother using a panga.
" I fear for my life and those of other witnesses, because his release will mean that we reside in the same village. He is a person of bad character and might end up injuring me and other people, since he is aware I am one of the witnesses in the case,” stated Mr Onderi.
Mogoi is being treated as the key suspect in the gruesome murder.
Osinde’s body was found floating on River Kuja in Kamagambo, at the border of Migori and Kisii counties, on June 22, 2023, four days after his mysterious disappearance from his Ngata farm in Nakuru on Sunday June 18, 2023.
An autopsy conducted on Osinde's body, at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, before he was buried,showed that the former Treasury official was slashed to death.
The autopsy by Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor, revealed that the slain ex-Treasury official was slashed on his head twice with one cut going through the back of his head and severing the spinal cord at the level of C7.
The C7 segment of the spinal cord bears the primary load from the weight of the head and supports the lower part of the neck.
The other cut went though the right side of the head and fractured the skull with injury to the brain. He died because of the blows to his head with the injuries to the brain.
Osinde was a brother to the late ambassador Ken Osinde, the former Chief of Staff in the office of the then Deputy President William Ruto (now president).
Osinde also served as Kenya’s ambassador to Germany, between 2010 and 2014, before serving as Chief of Staff at the Harambee House Annex. He died at a Nairobi hospital in October 2021, after a brief illness.
Mr Mogoi was arrested on June 28, 2023 at his rural home in Nyakeyo Village in Kisii County in connection with the murder.
He was charged with his murder on July 31 but denied committing the offense.
Justice Heston Nyaga had directed that the suspect be remanded at the Nakuru GK prison until September 21, after the prosecution filed an application to oppose his release on bond.
The prosecution led by Ms Loice Murunga had told the court that the suspect was at risk of being lynched as well as being a flight risk.
Ms Murunga also claimed the suspect was capable of interfering with the witnesses as some of them were his relatives.
Following the affidavit by the witness, the court directed that the suspect remains in custody until October 24.
Justice Nyaga further ordered that his pre-bail report be filed in court within 14 days.
