New Legal Woes for Murder Suspect

Sarah Wairimu Kamotho, the principal suspect in the 2019 murder of her husband, Dutch billionaire Tob Cohen, is facing new criminal charges that could deepen her legal jeopardy. On Friday, November 7, 2025, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) arraigned Ms. Wairimu before the Kibera Law Courts on two counts related to passport fraud. Appearing before Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul, she denied charges of giving false information to a public servant and false swearing.

The prosecution alleges that on Tuesday, February 20, 2023, Ms. Wairimu knowingly gave false information to Chief Inspector Mercy Riungu, the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Munyange Police Station in Othaya, Nyeri County. According to the charge sheet, she reported that her passport, number BK043532, was lost, prompting the officer to issue her with a police abstract based on the allegedly false claim.

In the second count, Ms. Wairimu is accused of false swearing under Section 114 of the Penal Code. The DPP claims that on the same day, she swore a false affidavit before an advocate, Muchiri wa Gathoni, in Nyeri Town, attesting to the loss of her passport when she was aware it was not lost. The prosecution, led by Samson Ng'etich, asserted that these actions were a deliberate attempt to mislead authorities and obtain official documents through deception.

Context of the Tob Cohen Murder Trial

These new charges compound the legal challenges for Ms. Wairimu, who remains remanded at Lang'ata Women's Prison in Nairobi. She is awaiting the conclusion of her trial for the murder of Tob Cohen, whose body was discovered in a septic tank at their Kitisuru home on September 13, 2019, after he had been missing for 54 days. The murder case has been a subject of intense public and media scrutiny in Kenya.

The path to the current murder trial has been convoluted. In 2022, the then-DPP Noordin Haji dropped the initial murder charge in favor of a judicial inquest, citing investigative inconsistencies. However, in a significant reversal, the current DPP, Renson Ingonga, revived the murder charges in January 2025, stating that new and overwhelming evidence had emerged linking Ms. Wairimu to the killing on the night of July 19-20, 2019. Ms. Wairimu was subsequently re-arrested on January 23, 2025.

Bail Denied Amid Flight Risk Concerns

Ms. Wairimu's multiple applications for bail in the murder case have been consistently denied by the High Court. In rulings delivered in February and July 2025, Lady Justice Diana Kavedza cited a high likelihood of witness intimidation and interference as primary reasons for her continued detention. The court noted allegations that Ms. Wairimu had threatened a police officer during proceedings.

The prosecution, led by acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Vincent Monda, has also argued that she is a flight risk. These fears were amplified by the court's finding that she had previously obtained a second passport while her first was in police custody—a detail that directly foreshadowed the current passport-related charges. The court ruled that the principles of justice and public interest in a heinous crime outweighed her right to liberty at this stage, ordering her to remain in custody until key witnesses have testified. The murder trial officially commenced on April 3, 2025, with witness testimony being heard. The new passport fraud case will proceed alongside the ongoing murder trial, with a future court date set for pre-trial directions.