This archive report was first published on 25 December 2019.
On December 16, 2019, Court of Appeal Judge Otieno Odek was found dead in his house near Kisumu Police Headquarters, sparking a murder investigation.
According to the DCI, the autopsy report by Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor concluded that Odek died from a blood clot in his right leg that led to a heart attack. However, the detectives contest this finding, stating that the results from the postmortem conducted on Odek's remains do not reflect clues and leads found at the crime scene.
On December 24, 2019, an autopsy was conducted at Kisumu-based Aga Khan Hospital Mortuary, witnessed by representatives from the bereaved family, Judiciary, and DCI. The procedure revealed that Odek was found in his bed with blood oozing from body openings, which the detectives say could be an indicator of toxicity.
A pack of libido-enhancing pills was found in his room, but the autopsy results did not reveal whether or not traces of the drugs were found in Odek's blood. Samples of meat and rice were also found in the kitchen and have been submitted to the Government Chemist to establish if the food was laced with poison.
Police were not able to get any suggestive leads from CCTV footage since the surveillance system had been reported to be faulty one week before the judge's death.
On December 27, 2019, Odek's family hopes to conduct a burial.
