Why 'killer-cop' was reading Bible in court

When Yunus Athuman Ali, a police constable, appeared before Justice Anne Og'injo for the trial of a murder case, he dug his eyes into the bible all the time to the bewilderment of those in court.

But Ali, who professes Islam, probably read Psalm 119:105: "In a time when the godlessness of the world is ever-increasing, it is more important than ever to heed the word of God............".

He appeared unperturbed as the prosecution witness narrated a chilling account of how he butchered a law-abiding citizen. Ali perused the bible, occasionally, marking verses or taking notes at the back pages of the bible.

The prosecution was building a double homicide case against Ali, hitherto hailed by his peers in the police services as a badass cop due to his heroic fights against dreaded criminal gangs and suspected terrorists at the Coast. A key prosecution witness in the murder case facing Ali was killed and his body was dumped at Dongo Kundu area in Mombasa.

An officer with Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) said the witness, Albert Wasike, had recorded a statement detailing how he ferried Ali to where he killed Maitha Omar.

Ali is charged with killing Omar at Mwenza village in Likoni on September 10, 2018. IPOA says Wasike who ferried Ali to where Maitha was killed was found dead along Dongo Kundu road.

The prosecution said that investigations established that Ali was the last person seen with Wasike on the night of May 21, 2022, before his body was found the following day at Dongo Kundu road within Kwale County.

During cross-examination by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP)'s Benard Ngiri, the witness said Wasike was killed by a Taurus Pistol TK69634 issued to the accused.

But what shocked many in the court was that as the witness testified, Ali was most of the time busy reading the bible and at some point throwing a glance at the IPOA officer James Njuru who was testifying against him.

Njuru said Ali was the one who fatally shot Omar in the company of Wasike who arrived at the scene of the crime.

"The deceased was a law-abiding citizen. He did not use any force on the officer to warrant him to draw his gun. The officer did not follow stipulated laws on the use of firearms," Njuru told the court.

Court left in shock

But Ali appeared unmoved by the chilling account of the double murder, and he continued to peruse the Good News bible. The judge, and prosecution and defense teams appeared shocked at Ali's demeanor. At one time, Ali took notes, writing them on the last pages of the Bible, perusing certain pages, and reading the bible as an investigation officer with IPOA was testifying.

The IPOA investigating officer told the court that Wekesa picked Ali and took him to the home of Omar, who was suspected of stealing some goats.

Upon arriving at Mwenza Village in Likoni, the IPOA officer told the court that Ali found Omar sleeping outside the house, and immediately, he drew his gun and shot him, killing him on the spot.

"He did not use any force on the officer to warrant the officer to draw his gun. The officer did not follow the stipulated laws on the use of firearms when the incident took place," said Njuru, guided by DPP's Bernard Ngiri.

Njuru further told the high court that the worst happened when their key witness in the case was found dead.