Murdered university student Sharon Otieno received a series of threatening messages from an unidentified woman days before her death.
Testifying before Justice Cecilia Githua at the High Court in Milimani, Michael Oyamo Juma, the former personal assistant to ex-Migori Governor Okoth, revealed that the threats were contained in text messages retrieved from Sharon’s tablet by a DCI officer, Ezekiel Ade.
According to Oyamo, the disturbing messages, sent from an unknown number by an anonymous woman, were laced with rage and menace.
One warned, “Please leave my husband alone. I can do you for worst… you will not walk away with it, idiot… gold digger. I will fight you to the bitter end.”
Another text pleaded but also threatened: “Please, I’m requesting you to leave my husband alone. The unbelievable will be the order of the day.”
A third message chillingly declared, “You must pay this dearly. I have everything about you.”
In a calm but firm response, Otieno reportedly replied, “I don’t remember going out with anyone’s husband.”
Oyamo confirmed the messages posed real threats but declined to name the sender.
Wearing a dark suit and maintaining a composed posture in the dock, Oyamo strongly distanced himself from Sharon’s killing. He denied any romantic or sexual relationship with her, despite claims that she suspected him to be the father of her unborn child.
“She called me around July 2018, saying she was pregnant and suspected I was the father,” Oyamo said, referring to a previous police statement. “But I had no sexual relations with her.”
He added that a DNA test had confirmed he was not the father.
Oyamo told the court he only came to know of Sharon in mid-2018, when an MCA and a journalist approached him about her alleged affair with Governor Obado.
During his testimony, he recounted the evening of 3rd September 2018, the day Sharon was abducted and later found murdered. He said he met her and a journalist, referred to as XYZ, at the Gracias Hotel in Rongo. The pair were sipping on Penasol wine when he arrived.
“I found Sharon and XYZ seated with two glasses on the table,” he said, adding he questioned XYZ’s judgement for letting a pregnant woman drink.
He said the meeting was to address complaints Sharon had made over financial support and disagreements involving XYZ and the late MCA Lawrence Mula, who allegedly mishandled money given to her by Governor Obado.
Oyamo rejected the prosecution’s version of events, which alleges that he lured Sharon to the hotel before handing her over to her killers. He maintained he had no involvement in planning or executing the heinous crime.
Cross-examination of Oyamo is set for June 11, where the prosecution is expected to grill him on the glaring inconsistencies and damning claims made against him.
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