A Siaya based journalist was on Thursday morning found dead in the house of a senior police officer’s house in Ugunja Sub county.
The body of Eric Oloo, a Siaya based correspondent with The Star newspaper was found lying in a pool of blood in the bedroom of a female chief inspector of police attached to Ugunja police station was sleeping.
Preliminary investigation into the incident indicated that the journalists had been cohabiting with the officer for some time before two men last night showed up and violently threw him out of the house in the wee hours in a case that witnesses claim was a love triangle that turned tragic.
Siaya police commander, Francis Kooli confirmed the incident but Chief Inspector Sabina Kerubo who was reportedly entangled in the love triangle was later arrested at a chang’aa den just a few meters from the station in full glare of the media.
He said the case along with the suspects were transferred to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations at the County headquarters to avoid conflict of interest because a senior officer who apparently deputized the officer commanding the Ugunja police station was involved.
Kooli said three people found at the scene of the incident were picked for questioning although one prime suspect was being sought to shed more lights on the happenings that led to the death of the journalist the previous night after a scuffle that involved four men.
Ugunja sub county police commander, Ibrahim Muchuma confirmed that the suspect on the run was implicated by the house help who testified that they gang up with his brother to beat up the deceased in their attempt to dislodge him out of the house..
The 38 year old Joyce Awuor revealed that the two brothers including Victor Ogola Luta who was already under police custody went to the officer’s house at around 9.PM and ordered the late Oloo, out of the bedroom before they senselessly hit him with crude weapons.
She said it was during the heated commotion that the officer who at the time was drunk, ordered the trio out to settle their scores elsewhere before the deceased came back.
The maid said that at around mid-night, there was a knock on the door and chief Inspector Kerubo’s daughter opened.
Victor, the caterer entered and shortly, Eric Oloo also followed, she said adding that it is shortly thereafter that she heard Oloo screaming.
She said that later, one of the suspects, Victor, boiled some water and wiped some blood from the deceased’s body and also on the floor.
The landlord Moses Ochieng in whose houses the incident occurred, told the press outside the station that the chief inspector had contacted him to help take her husband, who was not feeling well, to hospital.
He said the motionless body of the journalist had at least three deep cuts on the skull raising fears that he might have already succumbed to his injuries and had to call the police to handle the matter.
“The man had died and I refused to carry him,” he said adding that the officer was hesitant.
Witnesses said the land lord took the initiative to alert local police commander at the station after his deputy in whose bedroom the slain journalist was found expressed reluctance to involve her colleagues and later slipped away back to her usual drinking den as the body was being moved..
The body of the deceased was moved to Siaya County Hospital Mortuary
By Philip Onyango.
