Sixty days later, on September 13,2019 investigators made a discovery that would shock Kenya and attract international attention.
His body was found inside a septic tank at his Kitisuru home.
The tank had allegedly been sealed with fresh concrete.
His hands and legs were tied,his face covered and a rope tied around his neck.
The post-mortem conducted at Chiromo Mortuary concluded that Cohen died from severe head trauma caused by a blunt object.
His body had a deep cut above his right eye, a wide laceration on the head, severe cranial injuries, multiple fractures on both hands, broken ribs and injuries to internal organs.
What began as a missing-person case had turned into one of the most disturbing and controversial murder investigations in Kenya’s history.
DISCLAIMER!!!
All individuals mentioned are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Information contained in this account is based on publicly available reports, court documents, police records, DCI statements and mainstream media coverage.
Tob Cohen was born in the Netherlands in 1949.
He arrived in Kenya in 1989 as the CEO of Philips East Africa.
Two years later, he established Tob’s Limited, a company he co-owned with former Siakago MP Silas Ite.
Lawyer Sankale Ole Kantai assisted with the company’s registration becoming it’s legal adviser.
According to company records, Cohen controlled the overwhelming majority of shares (999%) while Silas held a minority stake of( 1%)
Around the same period, Cohen hired Sarah Wairimu as his personal assistant.
She was 23 years old and a mother of one.
What began as a professional relationship gradually evolved into a romantic one, despite their significant age difference.
Cohen had previously been married twice.
His first wife had died while his second marriage ended in divorce.
Years earlier, while still a young man,age 27,… Cohen had undergone a medical procedure that reportedly left him unable to father biological children.
So hakuwa na any biological child.
But in 1998, he officially adopted Sarah’s daughter.
To those close to them, they appeared to be building a family and a future together.
But behind the success, business interests, property acquisitions and growing wealth, tensions would eventually emerge that would culminate in one of Kenya’s most talked-about criminal cases.
In 1999, Cohen suffered a major setback when his business partner Silas Ite died at Nairobi Hospital.
It was later alleged that the deceased partner’s shares were transferred without Cohen’s knowledge.
According to the register of companies documents the 1% share was allegedly moved first to Justice Sankale Ole Kantai and later to Sarah Wairimu.
By 2000, business was booming,so he purchased a prime land property in Kitisuru and continued expanding his investments across the country.
In May 2007, construction began on the family’s lavish Kitisuru residence.
During the process, Sarah reportedly insisted that their official home and land documents be signed recognizing her as an equal partner and owner of the property.
Note they were not legally married at this point
But that was to change twelve days later,when the couple formalized their union through a traditional wedding ceremony.
Years afterward, Cohen’s sister Gabrielle would claim that her brother privately told her he had felt pressured into the marriage with deportation threats thrown his way.
The couple continued building wealth and their businesses expanded into luxury travel, medical tourism and hospitality ventures.
Their most ambitious project was a hotel development near the Aberdare Forest in Nyeri County.
From the outside, they appeared successful.
Inside the marriage, however, cracks were beginning to show.
By 2018, tensions had become increasingly visible.
During the traditional wedding ceremony of their daughter Renee and her Italian partner, an incident unfolded.
Patrick Muiruri, one of Cohen’s close friends, recalled witnessing a confrontation between the couple.
According to his account, Sarah interrupted Cohen while he was speaking and snatched the mic from him.
He told him he doesn’t belong there and mbu that was not his home.
Patrick was shocked…
He knew his friend had done the most for Sarah and her daughter,.. adopting her and giving them a family.
A month later, Sarah responded through her blog explaining what transpired at the traditional wedding.
She accused Cohen of being intoxicated, disorderly and disrespectful to their guests.
She also shared Whatsapp screenshot messages she had with his brother Benard,.. where he had expressed concerns about his brother Cohen’s behavior while drunk.
Anyway…their marriage was rapidly deteriorating and in 2019, Cohen filed for divorce.
In his petition,he painted a picture of a relationship that had collapsed.
He alleged that they had been sleeping in separate bedrooms and had been denied conjugal rights since 2014.
He also alleged he was cooking his own food, had suffered acts of cruelty and violence.
Sarah strongly disputed all these allegations and offered her own version of events.
Filing that divorce would be his “worst” mistake…what followed would set the stage for the events of July 2019.
Tob Cohen would be dead…
By 2019, the marriage between Tob Cohen and Sarah Wairimu had deteriorated beyond repair.
The disagreements were no longer private,the two had reported each other for assault at Spring Valley and Parklands Police stations.
Cohen was really determined to end the marriage,..but he was also making decisions that would have far-reaching consequences.
One of the most significant discoveries came when he began reviewing the ownership records of his company.
What he found reportedly left him furious!!
The minority shares originally belonging to his late business partner Silas had allegedly been transferred first to lawyer Sankale Ole Kantai and later to Sarah Wairimu without his knowledge or authorization.
To Cohen, this was not merely a paperwork issue,but a betrayal involving people he had trusted for years.
In April 2019, he took another major step,he visited his lawyer and prepared a will.
According to documents later presented in court, the will excluded both Sarah Wairimu and their adopted daughter from his estate.
He made copies of the will and emailed them to his sister Gabrielle in the Netherlands.
At roughly the same time, Cohen reportedly wrote to his lawyer Danstan Omari expressing fears for his safety.
He allegedly stated that his life was in danger,Omari took his concerns seriously and informed the then DPP boss Noordin Haji.
As legal battles intensified, family relationships continued to shatter.
In 2019, Cohen did not attend his adopted daughter’s white wedding in Italy,instead, Sarah travelled for the ceremony accompanied by Sankale Ole Kantai.
When Sarah returned to Kenya, tensions escalated even further.
Five days later, Cohen accused her of working with a senior police officer in Westlands in an attempt to have him deported over assault allegations.
The accusations added another layer to an already bitter dispute.
On July 17, lawyers handling Cohen’s company records contacted him and requested documents relating to the disputed shares.
The following day, July 18, another development occurred.
Sarah wrote a letter the Dutch Embassy stating that Cohen was depressed and was suffering from mental health challenges.
She asked the embassy to intervene.
At the same time, investigators would later point to increased communication between Sarah and Sankale regarding the disputed company shares.
There was also another figure entering the picture….Peter Karanja.
Karanja was reportedly going through a difficult divorce of his own with a current Member of Parliament.
Over time, speculation emerged regarding the nature of his relationship with Sarah.
Those allegations would later become a major focus of public discussion and court proceedings.
According to evidence presented during investigations, Sarah asked Karanja to travel to Nairobi from Gilgil.
Along the way, he picked up another man,the group later met in Westlands and shared lunch together.
As this was happening, Cohen was reportedly following up on assault-related complaints he had reported at Parklands Police Station.
Later that day, events became increasingly chaotic.
Police officers reportedly arrived at the Kitisuru residence intending to arrest Sarah over assault allegations but she allegedly locked herself inside a bedroom and began making frantic phone calls.
Among those she reportedly contacted were police officers from Spring Valley,Sankale Ole Kantai, Peter Karanja and several other individuals.
Officers from both Spring Valley and Parklands Police Stations arrived at their home eventually advising the couple to appear at the station the following day because each had filed complaints against the other.
By approximately 3 p.m., Cohen left the residence angry in his white Mercedes-Benz to Muthaiga Golf Club
What happened next would become one of the most heavily scrutinized timelines in the entire investigation.
According to Peter Karanja’s account, he had already begun driving back toward Gilgil when Sarah called him and asked him to return to Nairobi.
Karanja said he arrived back in the city around 10:30 p.m.
He parked his vehicle at Parklands Sports Club and later took a taxi to Kitisuru.
He told investigators he had gone there for a business meeting with Sarah.
According to his statement, he left around 1 a.m., went to K1 Club, drank until approximately 4 a.m. and then went back to Parklands and slept in his vehicle.
However, investigators would later point out that his phone data placed him at Cohen’s home the entire night.
The CCTV footage from locations mentioned in his account did not fully support his movements either.
Meanwhile, at the club,Tob Cohen was making what would become some of the final calls of his life.
He spoke to his sister Gabrielle.
According to her, he again expressed fears for his life,unpacked what had happened and told her he allegedly saw two goons at his home earlier.
He also contacted two close friends.
Muiruri whom he reportedly repeated the same chilling message telling him his life was in danger.
Fred,another friend from Netherlands allegedly advised him not to return home that night.
But he did.
The next morning, Cohen could no longer be reached by his sister Gabrielle.
Then, almost immediately, strange developments began to emerge.
Two letters surfaced.
One was addressed to divorce lawyer Judy Thongori.
The other was sent to Danstan Omari.
Both were allegedly written by Cohen.
The letters appeared to reverse positions he had aggressively pursued for months.
One requested that divorce proceedings be halted.
The other sought withdrawal of assault-related complaints he had filed against Sarah.
He was extremely apologetic and blamed himself ,describing Sarah as a loving wife whom he had treated unfairly.
For investigators, the timing raised questions.
For Cohen’s family and friends, the letters deepened the mystery because they knew they were fake.
At the same time, phone records would later become another focus of the investigation.
Among the communications highlighted by investigators was a message allegedly sent by Sarah to Peter Karanja asking whether his hand was okay.
Three days later, on July 22, Sarah reported Cohen missing.
But she filed the report at Kilimani Police Station rather than Parklands or Spring Valley, the stations already familiar with the couple’s disputes.
The disappearance was now official …
THE DISAPPEARANCE, THE LIES AND THE HORRIFIC DISCOVERY
Let’s go back a little bit to the assault charges.
Cohen in a video clip sent to his family with a bleeding forehead,alleged that he came home and found Sarah boiling with anger about the divorce filing and changes to his WILL.
She then attacked him ,pushing him down the flight of stairs.
Sarah on the other hand accused Cohen of attacking and pushing her against the wall.
That it was their family dog that jumped him,making him lose balance because he was intoxicated and went flying down the stairs.
Lets continue…
Concerns over Tob Cohen’s disappearance grew, so did the number of unanswered questions.
Friends, relatives and investigators were all searching for the same thing his physical trace,phone signal any clue that could explain where the Dutch businessman had gone.
On July 25, 2019, Sarah Wairimu was summoned to the Dutch Embassy.
According to records and witness accounts presented during the investigation, she informed embassy officials that Cohen had travelled to Bangkok for medical treatment.
His close friends strongly disputed that claim.
Many insisted Cohen had not mentioned any planned medical trip maintaining that their buddy was not suffering from any condition,..serious enough to require such a sudden journey abroad.
Investigators checked immigration records and there was no evidence that Tob Cohen had left Kenya.
The mystery deepened.
Sarah later recorded a statement at Kilimani police station accounting that Cohen woke up on the morning of his disappearance, drank a glass of milk, smoked a cigarette and spoke about being exhausted by endless legal battles.
She claimed he expressed regret over how he had treated her.
According to her version, he then went into his office and prepared letters withdrawing legal actions against her( refer to the two letters)
She further stated that he announced he was travelling to Bangkok for treatment before leaving in a white taxi.
Sarah believes that the taxi guys took him.
Investigators found no evidence to support that account.
Just days after Cohen disappeared, Sarah travelled to Kisumu for a romantic gate away with the Justice.
He booked her the air ticket and we all saw the romantic messages between them that was leaked to mainstream media.
Meanwhile, detectives continued digging into Cohen’s disappearance.
On July 30, Sarah was summoned back again to Nairobi cutting short, her coitus vacation.
Investigators were gathering phone records, statements and electronic evidence.
Sarah allegedly called Peter Karanja, advising him to dispose off two of his smartphones and acquire a mlika mwizi.
As public attention intensified, Sarah turned to her blog once again,.. to write presenting herself as a victim of a bad unhappy marriage.
She argued that Cohen was not the billionaire many believed him to be.
She accused him of having erratic and violent tendencies.
She insisted she was telling her side of the story,because she was being judged harshly
But behind the scenes, detectives were moving rapidly.
Eventually, Sarah Wairimu and Peter Karanja were arrested.
Then came the breakthrough that shocked the nation.
While in police custody, Peter caved and provided information that led investigators to a specific location within the Kitisuru compound,where they found Cohen’s decomposing body.
Inside a septic tank on the property lay the remains of Tob Cohen.
The tank had allegedly been concealed beneath fresh concrete.
The man who had built the home,had spent years creating businesses, wealth and a family was found buried within his own compound.
The discovery changed the investigation instantly from a missing-person case,to a homicide investigation.
The man who had repeatedly warned people that his life was in danger was indeed murdered.
The autopsy painted a grim picture.
Pathologists concluded that Cohen died from severe head trauma caused by a blunt object.
Cohen was starved then tortured for hours.
The examination documented significant injuries, including a deep wound above the right eye, extensive head injuries, broken ribs, fractures to both hands and injuries affecting internal organs.
Who killed Tob Cohen?
What happened inside the Kitisuru mansion during his final hours?
As preparations for burial began, another extraordinary legal chapter unfolded.
For the first time in Kenya’s history, a High Court ruling allowed Sarah Wairimu to attend her alleged victim’s burial,.. while facing murder charges,in custody.
The decision sparked widespread debate.
Some viewed it as a recognition of her rights as a spouse.
Others saw it as deeply controversial, given the circumstances surrounding the case.
On October 2019, both Sarah Wairimu and Peter Karanja were released.
Sarah on a 2M cash bail
Karanja on a 4M bond.
The next phase of the case would become a battle fought not only in courtrooms, but also in the media and within Cohen’s own family.
THE BATTLE FOR JUSTICE
With Tob Cohen buried, many Kenyans expected the criminal case to move swiftly toward a conclusion.
Instead, the investigation entered a maze of legal battles, conflicting claims, dramatic reversals and years of uncertainty
After securing her release on bail, Sarah Wairimu went on the offensive.
She filed multiple legal cases against various parties and sought hundreds of millions of shillings in damages
500M in total!!
Then came a major turning point,in November 2022, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, under Noordin Haji, dropped the murder case, citing insufficient evidence.
The decision stunned the country.
A case that had once appeared headed for a full murder trial suddenly seemed to be falling apart.
Sarah Wairimu welcomed the development and maintained her innocence.
She advanced a different theory altogether.
According to her claims, powerful individuals in the Jubilee government owed Cohen large sums of money and may have had motives to kill him.
She further alleged that certain police officers had colluded with the real killers and brought the body to their home,.. while she was being held in custody.
Investigators rejected those allegations.
Sarah started living her life,visiting her late husband’s grave with fresh flowers more often.
Another blow followed,.. when a key witness reportedly withdrew a sworn affidavit that had implicated Sarah Wairimu and Peter Karanja.
The matter was then referred to an inquest.
For Cohen’s family and his friends.., that development was deeply frustrating and painful.
Historically, many inquests have taken years and often end without criminal convictions.
To those seeking answers about Cohen’s death.., it felt as though justice was slipping further away.
Justice Sankale Ole Kantai was arrested on allegations related to conspiracy to defeat justice.
However, he was later released, challenged the actions against him in court and the case against him was dropped in its entirety.
As criminal proceedings stalled, a different battle erupted.
The battle over Tob Cohen’s vast estate.
Sarah skipped the opening of the will.
According to the will presented in court, he had excluded Sarah Wairimu and their adopted daughter from inheriting his estate.
Instead, his wealth was distributed among members of his family in the Netherlands, including his brother, sister, nephew and niece.
The revelation triggered yet another legal war.
Sarah challenged the will.
She produced what she claimed was the genuine version of the will where Cohen had left her with properties and assets worth hundreds of millions of shillings, making her one of the principal beneficiaries.
400M to be exact.
But the story was not over….it was like Cohen’s spirit refused to rest.
The murder file underwent another review.
Following fresh evaluation of the evidence, prosecutors concluded that Sarah Wairimu and Peter Karanja still had a case to answer.
The murder proceedings were revived and the two main suspects were re-arrested.
The dramatic reversal breathed new life into a case many had believed was unjustly finished.
When Sarah sought release on bond, the court declined.
In its ruling, the court cited concerns raised by the prosecution.
Among them were allegations of interference with the crime scene and attempts to intimidate an investigating officer on multiple occasions(3 times)
The judge also made another observation that Sarah Wairimu, was not even sorry.
She showed no grain of remorse.
Today, the case remains active before the courts.
78 witnesses are expected to testify.
Evidence continues to be examined.
Arguments continue to be made with both Sarah Wairimu and Peter Karanja remaining innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
For Tob Cohen’s family, however, the passage of time has not eased their pain.
A brother never returned home.
A son was buried far from the country of his birth.
A life built over decades ended in circumstances that continue to haunt everyone connected to the case.
Nearly seven years later, the questions remain.
The wounds remain.
And the search for justice continues.
Tob Cohen repeatedly told those closest to him that his life was in danger.
Weeks later, he was found dead inside his own home…
