'I did not kill Sharon,' Okoth Obado tells court in final submissions

In final submissions filed through Senior Counsel Kioko Kilukumi, Obado argued that the prosecution failed to establish a direct link between him and Sharon’s death, insisting the case rests on suspicion stemming from their intimate relationship.

“I did not kill Sharon,” his defence team told the court, maintaining that suspicion, however strong, cannot substitute proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sharon was killed on the night of September 3 and 4, 2018. Her body was later found near River Owade in Homa Bay County. A postmortem examination showed she died from severe haemorrhage caused by penetrating force trauma, with evidence of manual strangulation. She was about 28 weeks pregnant.

Obado is charged alongside his former personal assistant Michael Juma Oyamo and former county clerk Caspal Ojwang Obiero. The trio faces a murder charge over Sharon’s death. In January 2025, the court acquitted them of a second count relating to the unborn child but placed them on their defence over Sharon’s killing. All three have denied the charge.

While admitting to an intimate relationship with Sharon and acknowledging DNA results indicating a 99.9 per cent probability that he was the father of the unborn child, Obado maintained that the affair was neither secret nor a motive for murder. He told the court he had been financially supporting Sharon, including covering upkeep and medical expenses.

The defence further argued that the two had reached an amicable understanding and that Sharon had abandoned plans to disclose their relationship to the media, thereby negating any alleged motive.

Obado’s lawyers also faulted investigators for allegedly narrowing their focus on him because of the pregnancy rather than exploring other possible leads. They cited threatening messages Sharon reportedly received from an unidentified woman, claiming this angle was not thoroughly investigated.

“The prosecution has merely painted the 1st accused with the colours of suspicion,” the defence submitted, adding that the evidence on record falls short of the threshold required to sustain a conviction.