BY PHOEBE WANJOHI.
A Nakuru based lawyer has been charged with murder a Belgian woman who disappeared mysteriously last year.
Lawyer John Hari Gakinya appeared before High court Judge Daniel Ogembo and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
His co-accused, however, failed to plead to the charge for the third time.
The co-accused Lucy Waithera Njuguna did not plead to the charge because she was yet to be mentally assessed, as directed by the court.
Justice Daniel Ogembo deferred her plea taking to Thursday morning.
The lawyer is accused of killing Dysseleer Mireille Lesoipa Leila wa Samburu between an offence he allegedly committed between December 11, 2018 and July 15, 2019. They are accused of committing the offence jointly with others at an unknown place.
After denying the charted Justice Ogembo ordered lawyer Gakinya to be remanded until Monday, March 16, when his bail application will be heard.
The lawyer was arrested on Friday, March 6, over alleged involvement in the suspected killing of Lesoipa.
The Belgian woman, who was married to a Samburu dancer before they separated in 2003, disappeared from her home in Nakuru County in June 2019.
Police investigations led to the arrest of Waithera, her close friend, whom detectives say hired the services of Gakinya to file a succession case before the High Court in Nakuru.
In the case, Gakinya claimed Lesoipa had died of HIV/Aids related illness leaving behind a will in which she had named him the executor of her property worth over Sh100 million.
On Waithera, the court directed officials at Langata Women Prison to escort her to Mathare hospital, for mental examination to determine whether she is fit to stand for a murder trial.
The prosecution through Gichuhi applied for the accused to be detained at Langata women prison pending mental assessment before taking plea.
Her lawyer Cliff Ombeta had vehemently opposed the request to have her detained longer.
Ombetta informed the court that his client has been in custody for the last 27 days which the prosecution would have used to conduct a mental assessment before preferring a murder charge against her.
He opposed to have Waithera handed over to Prison authorities claiming that they will cause further delay in the exercise of mental assessment due to their administrative procedures.
The murder charged against Waithera comes after she has been in custody for almost a month following an application by the DCI to have her detained to complete investigations into the missing Kenyan-Belgium businesswoman.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) officers while seeking more time to complete investigations into the matter had informed Naivasha High court that Waithera was a key suspects involved in the disappearance of Dysseleer early last year.
The application filed by investigating officer attached to DCI homicide division Oliver Nabonwe claims that Waithera was arrested on February 1,2020 at her Milimani residence in Nakuru with Dysseleer’s assorted bank cards and copy of death certificate No. 1600281 for her involvement into the disappearance of the missing Kenya citizen of Belgium believed to be dead.
She was also in possession of Dysseleer’s original passport with immigration stamps indicating that the he had traveled to India on December 12,2018 and came to Kenya on June 30,2019.
Waithera alleged that she had visited the missing Dysseleer at Janaupuri Bhagat hospital where Dysseleer had been admitted since December 2018.
