Police have told a court they believe the wife of missing Dutch national Tob Cohen may have had a hand in his disappearance 40 days ago.
The details emerged in a Kiambu Court yesterday when Mr Cohen’s wife Sarah Wairimu was presented to court over her husband’s disappearance.
Cohen is yet to be found since he went missing on July 19 from their home in spite of efforts by authorities and his family to trace him.
Maxwell Otieno, for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters homicide section, told court Mr Cohen was apprehensive of his life and shared with his close friends threats he said were issued by his wife.
Mr Otieno told Kiambu Chief Magistrate Patricia Gichohi that Mr Cohen could have been kidnapped from his residence and taken by the suspect and her associates to an unknown place.
He added the kidnap could turn out to be murder.
Otieno also indicated that preliminary investigations show Cohen did not travel out of the country, adding that detectives have questioned several employees.
The officer, however, informed the court that preliminary investigations have established that the wife coached some of the witnesses to give false testimony on Cohen’s movement.
“The said witnessed later recanted their first statements and gave the true version of what transpired,” Otieno told the court.
The detective told the court that they were also investigating three letters alleged to have been authored by the missing tycoon to family lawyer Judy Thongori, the OCPD Gigiri and the OCS Parklands and Spring Valley.
“Preliminary investigations have so far revealed the letters to be forgeries and they are believed to have been authored by the suspect since she is the likely beneficiary of their content,” he told the court.
The content of the said letters were, however, not made public to the court.
He told the court the police are treating Cohen’s residence at Farasi Lane, Mugomoni Close in lower Kabete as a scene of crime, adding they want it to remain so until an equipment for the extraction of evidence from the home is procured.
The extraction of the evidence, the detective said, will involve the use of a forensic tool that is not locally available but has already been procured.
The investigation officer requested the court to grant them 14 days to continue holding the suspect.
He said if released on bail, the suspect may interfere with investigations which includes tampering with witnesses some of who are her employees.
According to the affidavit by the investigating officer, Cohen, the former Chief Executive Officer of Philips Electronic East Africa, married Wairimu on May 30, 2017. They, however, have no children.
Mr Otieno indicated that there has been limited peace in their marriage which led to the tycoon filing for divorce.
The affidavit further says the suspect is on February 8, 2019, is reported to have pushed her husband down the stairs, causing him head injury.
