Mysteries inquest into death of Keroche heiress will seek to solve

The afternoon of April 23 was to be a time for Tecra Muigai, 29 – daughter of Keroche Breweries directors Tabitha and Joseph Karanja – to reconnect and relax with friends.

Having been caught up in the lockdown in Lamu where she had gone to visit her boyfriend Omar Lali Omar “for a weekend”, she ended up remaining there for more than 40 days. Tecra initially stayed at Diamond Beach Hotel on Ras-Kitau Manda Island.

After 38 days at the hotel, she moved to Jaha Guest House in Shella village.

On that fateful day, Tecra had planned to host a group of friends between 3pm and 6pm in time for them to beat the curfew.

The party was never to be and Tecra would not see her friends again after she reportedly fell from a flight of stairs, according to her boyfriend Omar Lali Omar, 52, sustaining serious injuries. She died at Nairobi Hospital on May 2.

On Thursday, the Director of Public Prosecutions made an about-turn and entered a nolle prosequi, thereby discontinuing the intended murder case against Mr Lali, just minutes before he was to take a plea.

The prosecution instead told the court that it favours a public inquest into Tecra’s death.

CASH BAIL

Counsel Eric Kadebbe will lead the prosecution at the inquest whose details have yet to be announced.

Mr Lali had been arrested after Tecra’s death and spent 14 days in custody. He was then released on Sh300,000 cash bail.

When an inquest is finally convened, the difficult question that will have to be answered is whether this was murder or an accident.

“The case raises critical human rights and justice questions that must be answered. We pray that the inquest shall seek to illuminate the circumstances surrounding Tecra’s death. It should not end up like the past ones which failed to unravel the mysteries surrounding the deaths of the likes of Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge, Julie Ward and Fr Kaiser,” Ms Ann Njogu, a social justice advocate and ambassador of the Africa Unite Campaign lobby, said.

In his statement to police and Tecra’s mother, Mr Lali maintained that his girlfriend fell off the stairs at Jaha House on April 23 at 5.30am.

Mr Lali added that he took her to Shella Dispensary before she was transferred to King Fahad Referral Hospital where she was admitted.

Tecra would be flown to Nairobi Hospital where she eventually died.

Soon after Mr Lali was freed, his lawyer, Yusuf Abubakar, said he always believed his client was innocent.

FALL THEORY

However, reports of two pathologists have questioned the fall theory.

According to the postmortem, Tecra had multiple head injuries, all of which could not have been caused by a fall from a flight of stairs.

Government pathologist Johansen Oduor said the injuries were unlikely caused by a single impact.

“This observation indicates blunt object injury and as well as a possible fall,” Dr Oduor said in his report.

Another report by consultant pathologist Andrew Gachii made similar observations.

“Tecra allegedly fell from a height. However, the numerous head injuries…are unlikely to have been caused by a single impact. There are multiple impact sites as well as deep injuries, which suggest both blunt object blow injuries as well as a possible fall,” Dr Gachii concluded in his 14-page report.

“This is in view of noted highly complex injuries with focal and multi-focal pattern of injuries.”

Mr Lali had been represented by Prof Emily Rogena – a pathologist – at the postmortem

A toxicology examination found no alcohol in Tecra’s system as had been reported, according to a report seen by the Sunday Nation.

A housekeeper at Jaha Guest House had told the investigators that when he went to clean the house at 7.30am on the fateful day, he found no one but spotted a sizeable blood drop on the stairs base towards the second floor.

The Keroche Breweries heiress’ mobile phone and laptop were on the couch while the boyfriend’s was switched off.

HEAD INJURIES

The caretaker said he reported the odd situation to the manager.

Mr Lali reportedly asked them to clean the blood and the rest of the house “since it was just a minor incident”.

Before the prosecution’s unexpected about-turn, the necessary preparations to charge Mr Lali had been made and that he was going to take a plea had not been in question.

He was transferred from Lamu to Garsen in Tana River County where there is a High Court and appeared before a judge who directed that he undergoes a mental assessment to ascertain if he is mentally fit to stand trial.

“This is one of the saddest and most tragic cases. It raises very many questions. If it is true that the toxicology reports are negative and did not find alcohol in her blood, who then was drunk on the night of the reported fall?” Ms Njogu asked.

“If it is true that Tecra sought to end her relationship with Lali and considering it is a fact that women are most at risk of femicide when attempting to do so, what could have happened on the material night of the alleged fall?”

The decision to charge Mr Lali with murder had been arrived at on the basis of a police investigation report that paints a portrait of an aggressive, possessive and jealous man who would often engage in fights and confrontation.

The report, according to police sources, also showed that Mr Lali largely depended on his girlfriend for upkeep.

Amidst the uncertainty of the circumstances under which Tecra died, claims of a love triangle involving a Dutch woman, and an overly possessive boyfriend have emerged to support the murder theory.

The inquest will likely dwell into this theory too.

MEETINGS

The Dutch woman had been in Naivasha sometime between January and February, around the same time Mr Lali was with Tecra at her apartment in town.  The Dutch woman and her daughter were at Naivasha Rocky Eco Lodge before she travelled to Lamu.

Shortly after, Mr Lali too left for Lamu and Tecra followed him. Tecra travelled back to Naivasha for work-related meetings then went back to Lamu.

The next time she left Lamu, Tecra was unconscious and on an Amref aircraft to Nairobi Hospital.

Mr Lali and his lawyer deny claims of murder. 

“My client has not been happy since he was accused of killing the woman he loved and whom he had some plans with, but he is happy today,” Mr Abubakar had said after the prosecution entered a nolle prosequi.

Mr Lali is reported to have five daughters from three marriages – one from the Coast, a Briton and a Dutch.