The widow of Nairobi businessman Jimmy Jagatram Baburum who died in mysterious circumstances while on vacation in a hotel at Watamu, Kilifi has been acquitted.
In her ruling, Mombasa High Court Judge Dora Chepkwony said that the prosecution did not establish a prima facie case against Amina Shiraz.
The judge said that two key witnesses who testified in the matter contradicted their testimonies before the court.
The two key witnesses had placed the widow at the scene of the alleged murder where one of them claimed to have seen the woman drown the deceased.
“I find that none of the evidence links the accused person to the death of the deceased. Nothing indicates a plan to have the deceased murdered, the same evidence adduced here is based on suspicion and speculation,” she ruled.
Chepkwony further said that though suspicion against the accused person may be strong, the evidence adduced fell short of establishing her involvement in the crime.
“Even in the telephone conversation from the phone data, there is nothing to show any motive or reason to attack and kill the deceased. I therefore enter a verdict of not guilty and acquit the accused of the charge of murder” ruled Chepkwony.
Shiraz had been charged alongside her alleged fugitive boyfriend Jacob Shmalze with the murder of her husband on July 25, 2015 at Medina Palms Resort in Watamu.
Shmalze run out of the country before he could be charged in court.
Baburam was a firearm expert who supplied the Kenya Defence Forces with ammunition and related hardware.
He was found dead in a swimming pool at the luxurious resort where he had taken his family for a holiday.
During hearing of the case, a doctor who treated the businessman said that the tycoon had suffered from a series of diseases among them acute kidney failure.
Dr. Dan Gikonyo, who was also a family friend of the late Baburum, claimed the deceased had been in and out of hospital for ailments ranging from kidney complications, pneumonia and diarrhea.
Gikonyo who is a respected doctor was once President Mwai Kibaki’s personal doctor.
A post-mortem report showed that he died as a result of drowning and chronic kidney disease.
