A former housekeeper of slain Dutch businessman Tob Cohen has told the High Court of bitter confrontations between Cohen and his wife, Sarah Wairimu, in the months preceding his death, including a dispute over property documents kept in a safe at their Nairobi home.
Chrispinus Chehemi, who worked for the couple as a gardener and later as a housekeeper, gave the testimony before Justice Diana Kavedza as the court heard evidence in the case surrounding Cohen’s death.
Chehemi said tensions between Cohen and Wairimu had intensified before the businessman went missing. He told the court that on one occasion, Cohen summoned him to the master bedroom and instructed him to move a safe. According to the witness, Cohen ordered him to break open the safe, but he declined. Chehemi said Cohen became angry and told him that he would henceforth be paid by Wairimu because he had disobeyed his instructions.
The safe was eventually taken outside the house, where, Chehemi said, another man summoned by Cohen arrived with a drill and broke it open. After the safe was opened, the witness said he heard Cohen remark: “I got what I wanted.” Chehemi testified that Cohen then went into the house with some documents.
He later informed Wairimu about what had happened. According to the witness, she told him that she knew the safe’s code and alleged that Cohen wanted to obtain land documents with the intention of selling the property.
The witness also described an alleged physical confrontation between the couple on February 8, 2019. Chehemi said that at about 10pm, he heard Cohen repeatedly shouting: “You are killing me, you are killing me.” He went to investigate and, according to his testimony, found Cohen on the floor near the stairs while Wairimu was holding a chair over him.
Chehemi said Cohen was bleeding following the incident and later fell against a flower vessel. The witness said Cohen subsequently complained that he had failed to intervene during the confrontation. “Stupid… You did not help me when Sarah was beating me,” Cohen allegedly told him. Chehemi further testified that the relationship between the couple continued to deteriorate. He said Cohen stopped eating food prepared by Wairimu and instead began preparing or buying his own meals.
The witness later left his employment but was recalled by Wairimu in July 2019. Chehemi told the court that Wairimu informed him that she and Cohen had resolved their differences and that Cohen had travelled abroad for medical treatment. “I knew Cohen had travelled abroad for treatment,” he told the court.
When he returned to the residence, however, Chehemi said he noticed several changes, including missing clothes and a red briefcase belonging to Cohen. He said the way Cohen’s belongings had been arranged led him to believe that the businessman had travelled outside the country. It was only later, the witness said, that he learnt Cohen was missing and that Wairimu had been arrested. Chehemi subsequently learnt that Cohen’s body had been discovered in a septic tank at his Kitisuru property.
The former employee also told the court that he received a letter from Cohen’s lawyers concerning divorce proceedings which, he said, had been initiated shortly before the businessman’s death. Cohen’s death and the circumstances surrounding it have been the subject of a prolonged criminal case.
Wairimu has denied murdering her former husband and faces the allegations in court.
