The widow of a slain Sh72 million bank robbery suspect has dismissed claims by police that her husband was a notorious gangster on ‘most wanted’ list.

Testifying against six police officers charged with murdering her husband, Dorcas Wamaitha Ngugi (pictured) told High Court judge Mugure Thande that Wycliffe Vincent Owuor “was not a notorious armed gangster but a loving man who used to work in a city hospital.”

She said she was shocked to see a photograph of her husband’s body with a pistol and a knife placed next to it on the day he was shot dead, May 24, 2020.

Pistol and knife

“Did you know that your husband had a pistol and was gunned down by police when he dared them when challenged to surrender,” defence lawyer Danstan Omari asked Dorcas during cross-examination. “What I can see in the photo is a semblance of a gun. I never saw Vincent with any gun at our matrimonial homes in Thika and Nairobi. He was not an armed robber,” Dorcas replied.

Cross-examined further by Omari and lawyer Martina Swiga who is defending police officers Joseph Ogode Odhiambo, Henry Mutai, Bashir Ali, Charles Kirimi, James Ngige and Vincent Odhiambo, Dorcas said he came to know her late husband was engaging in a robbery when he was arrested at Kendu Bay within Homa Bay county with Sh7 million which was part of the Sh72 million stolen from Standard Chartered Bank in 2020.

“I put it to you that your deceased husband was a most wanted notorious gangster who engaged in capital offences,” Omari asked Dorcas.

In response, she said: “My late husband never told me he was a robber. All I know is that he used to work in a city hospital and was a good man. Men never disclose how they earn their money.”

She added; “No single man can confess to his wife he is a robber. They never disclose their side hustles.”

Cross-examined further by Swiga, Dorcas said the deceased had kidnapped his uncle before he was rescued by police.  But she said he informed her they had differed over some money.

She stated she never knew her late husband had been living at Buruburu Police Lines with a policeman for four years before they moved to Thika.