Omar Lali Omar, the 52-year-old boyfriend to the late Keroche heiress Tecra Karanja, was today arraigned in court and charged with her murder in a Garsen High court.
Omar is accused of committing the crime on the night of 22nd and 23rd April 2020 at Shela Village, Lamu. The accused was however not allowed to take a plea until a mental assessment is done and presented to the court on Thursday 16th July 2020.
The late Tecra Karanja, the last-born daughter of Keroche Breweries CEO, Tabitha Karanja died on May 2nd at the Nairobi Hospital while undergoing treatment.
She had been attended at Shela Dispensary and King Fahd Referral Hospital, Lamu before being airlifted to Nairobi after incurring head injuries at the Jaha House apartment where she lived together with Omar.
Omar Lali after he was re-arrested today and taken to Garsen. He will be charged with Murder tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/k5VKzFRTyv
— Robert Alai (@RobertAlai) July 13, 2020
According to Omar, Tecra sustained the injuries following a fall. However, according to the sources at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, there is a severe disconnect between what Omar has told investigators and what their findings are. DCI investigators have also taken issue with Omar’s differing versions to doctors, media and investigators of what is now being officially described as an “alleged fall”.
However, it is the forensic reports compiled from the post mortem findings that have “put Omar on his defence as his story is heavily contradicted by what different pathologists have uncovered after examining Tecra’s remains”.
This opinion is shared by Tecra’s doctors at Nairobi Hospital who were puzzled by the pattern of injuries on her body which in their unanimous opinion were “inconsistent with the staircase fall as described by Omar Lali”.
The DPP is expected to present to court evidence proving the late Tecra’s body contained multiple trauma injuries. Examination of the staircase where Omar alleges Tecra had fallen has led investigators to a conclusion that another force was used which directly caused her eventual death.
By last week the DCI had completed their investigations in a massive fact-finding effort that included crime scene experts, forensic analysts, top pathologists and toxicology experts.
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Lali, who has been living in Lamu with Ms. Muigai since April 2020, initially said she tumbled down the stairs before later changing his account to say she tripped in the bathroom.
In other accounts, Omar Lali, a former beach boy has maintained a narrative of an accidental fall that woke him up when “she fell with a thud”. He says he was asleep when it happened.
Tecra was laid to rest on Saturday, May 16, in a private burial in Naivasha. The funeral attended by among other former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui eulogized the deceased as a remarkable young lady whose role as the Keroche Breweries Strategy and Innovation Director resulted in innovations that enriched the company’s brand collection. The company acknowledged that two products developed by the late Tecra were set to be launched this year.
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Tecra is an alumnus of Greenwich University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation in 2014, before enrolling at the IED Fashion and Design School located in Venice, Italy.
Family and friends describe the publicity-shy Tecra as a simple, humble and gifted personality.
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