Obado was in Nairobi on the night of Sharon's murder, court told

The late Sharon Otieno. [File, Standard]

Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado could not have been at the scene where Sharon Otieno was murdered, the High Court heard on Wednesday.

The lead investigator in the case, Nicholas Ole Sena, told Justice Cecilia Githua that investigations and mobile phone triangulations revealed that Obado was in Karen, Nairobi.

Ole Sena said that contrary to the claims on the whereabouts of the former governor, it emerged that he was at Azimio leader Raila Odinga’s Karen residence.

The officer told the court that Obado was in Karen between 5pm and 9pm and hence could not have been at the murder scene.

He said that triangulation of the former governor’s phone indicated that he did not leave Nairobi from September 2, 2018, to September 5, 2018.

The officer said the mobile phone service provider’s data showed that Obado was not in Homa Bay County on the night of Sharon’s murder.

Earlier, Quinto Odek Etyang an expert witness from Safaricom data records told the court that from the night of September 2, 2018, to September 5, 2018, the former governor was in Nairobi.

Etyang in his testimony told Justice Githua that on September 2, 2021, he received a letter from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) detectives requiring Safaricom to provide call data records of the accused persons, the deceased and witnesses under protection.

The DCI requested call data for the period between August 1, 2018, to September 6, 2018.

Etyang said that the investigators also wanted information on the suspect's history location, mobile contacts they talked to and Mpesa account statements.

"The data from Safaricom was to enable the DCI officers to piece together the movement of the people they had given their numbers and establish or see whether they were involved in the murder," he said.

During cross-examination by Senior Counsel Kioko Kilukumi, Etyang said that on September 2, 2018, at 1650hrs, Obado was captured at Suswa, In Rift Valley.

"At 1732hrs the former Governor Obado was captured by the cell tower at Mai Mahiu and at 1803hrs he was at Sigona," he said.

The same day, September 2, 2028, at 1827hrs he was located at Lavington, Nairobi.

“I confirm that throughout the night of September 2, 2018, going to September 3, 2013, the subscriber (Obado) spent his night at Lavington until September 5, 2018,” said Etyang.

On Wednesday, Ole Sena told the court that there was no link between Obado and the abduction of the journalist who was the star witness in the case.

“We don't have any knowledge or evidence that he participated in the killing of the deceased,” he testified.

He said that from the statement taken from Obado’s wife, the pregnancy and the affair with Sharon was an open issue that the family knew about.

Obado was charged with Sharon's murder alongside his then-personal aide Michael Oyamo and a former clerk Caspal Obiero. They are facing charges of killing Sharon and her unborn child on the night of September 3, 2018, in Homa Bay County.

Ole Sena was the last state witness.