Justice Odek was fit on a visit to his Asembo home

Court of Appeal Judge James Otieno Odek spent the better part of last Thursday at his rural home in Rarieda, Siaya County, it has emerged.

Prof Odek, 56, was found dead an his Groovehut Apartment house in Kisumu on Monday morning.

The caretaker of the Memba village home, Mr Samuel Ong'era, said Prof Odek took Christmas shopping to his Asembo rural home on Thursday afternoon and showed no sign of illness. He spent some time there and then left for Kisumu in the evening.

Witnesses, including Judiciary officers and police, who broke into the judge’s house on Monday, said his body was half covered.

A postmortem will be carried out at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu Thursday to establish the cause of his death.

Detectives have indicated they are relying on the postmortem report to shed light on his death.

During his brief visit to his Asembo home, Mr On’gera said, the judge gave some money to his sister-in-law for weeding the farm and promised to visit again this week to check on the progress.

Mr Ong'era, who has been working at the home for two years, told the Nation that he had called his boss on Friday, but he did not answer his calls. Mr Ong'era said it was not normal for the judge not to pick up his phone calls.

“I called him on Friday to inform him about a water pipe but he did not respond. I first thought he was busy but ,when he didn’t respond until Sunday, I became worried,” he said.

The caretaker remembered the judge as a very supportive man.

“Other than being my employer, he was like a brother to me and supported me in many ways,” said the father of four.

According to Odek's sister-in-law, Ms Milka Adhiambo, the judge loved education and supported many children in his village. She said his death was a big blow to the family and the county.

“He sent me money to pay workers at his farm and I expected him home for Christmas,” she said.

For his younger cousin, Joshua Owino, Prof Odek was a hardworking and disciplined man who was yet to accomplish a lot in life especially in his line of duty.

According to Mr Owino, the judge supported many projects in the community, among them a feeding programme for Sunday schoolchildren and a laboratory at Memba Mixed Secondary School.

On Wednesday, only a few people were allowed into the home. The gate was locked and visitors had to be screened before being allowed in.

On Monday evening, the Nation established that there was some drama after the family objected to an attempt by the Judiciary to airlift the body to Nairobi for preservation at Lee Funeral Home.

Judge Odek’s elder brother, Yona Odek, confirmed that the Judiciary had already picked up the body from Aga Khan mortuary without the family’s authority and was on the way to the airport when the family directed that it be returned to the mortuary to await a word from the family.

The judge’s wife, Anne Odek, is said to have insisted that the body be returned and preserved at the Aga Khan Hospital mortuary.

The brother indicated that tentatively, the judge will be buried at his home in Asembo, Siaya County, on December 27, 2019.