The mastermind of the September 2019 Ksh74million StanChart (Standard Chartered Bank) heist, Wycliff Vincent Oduor who was later gunned down in Kayole in March 2020, could have been executed in cold blood.
An independent probe has disputed an earlier claim by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) who said Oduor was gunned down in ‘a fierce shootout’ between a 3-man gang and detectives.
Four police officers have since been arrested in connection with Oduor’s murder and are expected to be charged in court today (Tuesday, June 6, 2022) with murder after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) approved the charges.
Corporal Joseph Ojode Obambo, Corporal Charles Kirimi, Constable Bashir Ali and Constable Henry Mutai, all from Kayole police station were on Monday evening arrested for killing Owuor on March 25, 2020.
In a letter dated May 18 and addressed to the Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police, the DPP said there was sufficient evidence that the four officers murdered Oduor and directed that they be arrested and charged with murder.
Immediately Oduor was shot, his lawyer Cliff Ombeta challenged the DCI and posted a video showing how the officers shot the unarmed suspect.
“Wycliff Vincent Oduor was shot in cold blood by officers in Probox KCT 818W. He tried to plead and even went into a barber shop and was removed from there and shot outside,” Ombeta said at the time.
The DCI through their Twitter account had also said that Oduor was in the company of other robbers at the Kayole junction and defied orders to surrender, engaging the officers in a fire exchange.
“A pistol and a kitchen knife were recovered from the slain suspect. Wycliff Oduor aka ‘Vinii’ has been out on a Ksh500,000 bond after his arraignment following the heist,” the DCI said in 2020.
Police claimed Oduor had been robbing members of the public at the Kayole junction while accompanied by two other men, and that a team of detectives from Kayole DCI who responded to a distress call managed to shoot Oduor.
The then Nairobi Region Police commander Philip Ndolo said the gang had been terrorising members of the public in Kayole, Obama and even Ruai.
“The gang defied orders to surrender, engaging the officers in a fire exchange which left the said suspect dead. We recovered a pistol and a knife,” he said.
StanChart heist mastermind was out on bail
Oduor was among the suspects charged with the StanChart heist and was released on a cash bail of Ksh500,000 by Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi.
They were accused of robbery with violence after they allegedly robbed G4S staff of the Sh74 million and 38 cassettes, 13 purge bins and 13 canvas bags, totalling Sh75.9 million.
They were also charged with malicious damage to property after destroying property belonging to G4S valued at Ksh1,267,000 in Thogoto forest, Kiambu.
