Manager in shooting case fails to take plea

Dan Jaoko at the Winam Law Courts in Kisumu on August 19, 2019. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

A hotel manager suspected of fatally shooting a Coast Bus employee has been remanded at the Kodiaga Maximum Prison as he waits to plead to murder charges.

Senior Resident Magistrate Angeline Odawo yesterday also ordered that Daniel Jaoko of Ray-Green Hotel undergo a mental health test before his next court appearance on August 29.

With the courts on a one-month vacation, the suspect was unable to plead to the charges even as the registrar transferred the case to Busia.

Jaoko appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Joselyn Kimetto at the Winam Law Courts last week, but the police said they were still waiting for a post-mortem to be conducted on the body of Peter Otieno.

The court also heard that detectives were still analysing spent cartridges found at the scene of crime.

Jaoko is said to have shot Otieno three times in the chest in the early hours of August 17. This after an argument allegedly ensued when the manager parked his vehicle and blocked the victim from driving out of an estate.

Eliab Njehia, the investigating officer, had earlier told the court that the suspect was found with a Ceska pistol, a magazine loaded with ammunition and a civilian certificate of firearm ownership.