A businessman accused of murdering his wife has been denied bail on grounds that he might interfere with witnesses and investigations.
Mary Immaculate Aiso Onebe’s remains were found dumped in a septic tank at the family home located on Dr Kaggwa Rise in Munyonyo, Makindye Division, Kampala following close to nine months of investigations.
Francis Onebe, 63, an accountant currently on remand at Kitalya Prison, had requested the court to grant him bail on grounds that he is of advanced age with ailments like high blood pressure and prostate cancer.
The Onebes on their wedding day.
The businessman is facing murder charges alongside Bonny Oriekot, 26, a security guard attached to Pentagon Security Limited.
Under Section 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act, the offence attracts a maximum sentence of death, upon conviction.
Justice Paul Gadenya Wolimbwa dismissed Onebe’s bail application on grounds that he may interfere with witnesses and investigations which are forensic in nature and require painstaking examination of the scene of the crime (the applicant’s home).
“After reviewing the materials, evidence and facts in this case, I am satisfied those investigations are complex in nature given the circumstances under which the deceased was killed and ultimately hidden within the premises of the applicant,” the judge noted.
Gadenya observed that the applicant’s home, which is being treated as a scene of the crime, may hold clues as to who killed the deceased
The judge also said the scene of the crime is the home of the applicant and therefore persons who may turn out to be witnesses will either be related or closely associated with him, hence temptations for the latter to influence them cannot be ruled out.
“I cannot also brush aside the threats that law enforcement officers have been exposed to such as police officer Hakiri Obadia who lost his life shortly after collecting possible evidential materials from the scene of crime,” he noted.
Equally, the judge said granting Onebe bail will prejudice public interest and the administration of justice.
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