Murder of Venezuelan Ambassador to Kenya: Four suspects found guilty, one acquitted

A former diplomat at the Venezuelan Embassy in Kenya Dwight Sagaray and three others have been found guilty of the murder of Venezuelan Ambassador to Kenya Olga Fonsesca in 2012.

Justice Roselyn Korir acquitted the fifth accused person Kipng'eno Chelogoi, for lack of sufficient evidence linking him to his co-accused persons and the scene of crime.

Former First Secretary at the Venezuelan Embassy Dwight Sagaray, Ahmed Mutivane Omindo, Alex Sifuna Wanyonyi, and Moses Kiprotich Kalya were found guilty of planning and executing the murder of the former Venezuelan Ambassador to Kenya who was found strangled in her official residence in Runda area of Nairobi in July 2012.

Five accused persons had been arraigned in the 10-year-old case but one has been acquitted as the prosecution did not prove his involvement in the planned murder.

Kipng'eno Kirui Chelogoi who worked as a guard in the neighbouring Turkish Embassy convinced the court that he had no relationship with the rest of the accused persons. His only mistake was handling a mobile phone he picked on the road that belonged to the deceased.

Fonseca is belived to have been murdered following a heightened power struggle with Sagaray who served as an acting ambassador prior to her deployment to head the mission. She was murdered barely a month after reporting for duty in the country.

The accused persons who were free on bond will remain in custody at the Industrial Area Remand Prison pending sentencing on the 16th of February this year.