Five people have been charged with the murder of the late Molo activist Raymond Otieno who was killed outside of his gate on January 18, 2025, when he was driving back home from watching a football match.
The five men who had been detained following their arrest on February 3, 2025, now have been charged in the gruesome murder of the activist whose death sparked a series of protests in the area.
Two of the men who have been charged are bodaboda operators who are suspected to have ferried three individuals who attacked and murdered the activist just metres away from the Elburgon Police Station.
In an earlier update, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) noted that the three men could be directly linked to the death of the activist.
“The suspects are prime suspects Geoffrey Mavado, John Ndegwa and Jorim Ngonga Sura, believed to have been directly involved in the brutal killing. The other two; Clinton Simantu alias Muiruri and Peter Mwaniki alias Pinchez are bodaboda operators who have been identified as the persons who ferried the hitmen to and from the scene of crime,” DCI stated.
Earlier assault
Two of the suspects, the DCI revealed, had assaulted Otieno in 2024, and that they had been arrested over the crime.
The authorities say the two were sentenced to a one-year probation; and that homicide detectives had positively placed them at the scene of the crime during the murder of the activist whose death sparked massive protests in Molo.
“Earlier on November 8, 2024, Geoffrey Mavado and John Ndegwa had been arrested and charged for assaulting the deceased and were sentenced to a one-year probation. In the course of the homicide probe, the two were forensically placed at the scene of crime, and crucial evidence has been collected to aid their prosecution,” DCI revealed.
Cause of death
The autopsy report by government pathologist Johansen Oduor revealed that Otieno was slashed on the front and back of his head by his assailants and that he had died as a result of excessive loss of blood.
“From these findings, we can say that the late Richard (Otieno) died as a result of severe head injury which was caused by a sharp object which could either be a panga or an axe which was used severally on the head. We have taken some samples for analysis which will help us see if we can apprehend the persons who did this,” Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor said.
He was laid to rest on February 7, 2025, at his ancestral home in Siaya County.
