Corpse found in septic tank is not my wife – Onebe

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Detectives investigating the kidnap and murder of Muyenga businesswoman, Immaculate Mary Blessing Onebe, have decided to conduct DNA tests after her husband, Francis Onebe, insisted that the body picked from the septic tank at their matrimonial home is not for his wife.

After close to nine months of search, homicide team from Criminal Investigations Directorate-CID at Kibuli, last Wednesday retrieved a body of a woman believed to be the missing wife to proprietor of Price and King auditing firm Francis Onebe. This is the third corpse of a missing woman to be found in a septic tank on the affluent Muyenga hill in recent years.

But Onebe who has been in police custody since last week insists that he does not know how an ‘unknown’ woman ended in their septic tank. CID spokesperson Charles Twine has said they have now decided to conduct DNA tests with the couple’s children to confirm whether the corpse picked from a septic tank is that of their missing mother.

Twine said Francis Onebe’s actions ever since his wife Immaculate Onebe went missing have purposely been intended to divert investigations. Immaculate Onebe went missing on June 6 last year in the vicinity of their home at Kaggwa road in Muyenga.

Francis Onebe rushed to file a case of a missing person at Kabalagala police and later visited CMI, SIU and CID claiming that his wife had been kidnapped by unknown people moving in a Toyota Hiace commonly known as drone.

To prove his claims, Francis Onebe presented a Closed Circuit Television-CCTV cameras showing a drone stopping just in front of Immaculate as she returned from a grocery. Besides checking at numerous army and police detention facilities, Francis had interviews with various media houses insisting his wife had been kidnapped.

In addition, Francis placed adverts in newspapers, on television and radio stations announcing his wife’s disappearance. But as fate would have it, a security guard Okariot who had gone missing abruptly showed up at the same home last month on August 28.

The new guard from Pentagon Security Limited where Immaculate served as director spotted Okariot hiding in a pit latrine and quickly locked him inside and then alerted police. Police summoned Francis to CID headquarters where he recorded a statement. But detectives noticed that there were inconsistencies in Francis statements compared to those recorded eight months ago.

“Investigators decided to have another interview with Francis on Monday (last week) but we later learnt that he was planning to leave the country. We became suspicious and we arrested him,” Twine said.

In response to questions to why he was planning to leave the country at the height of an inquiry that could lead to the finding of his dear wife, Francis said he was going to UK for treatment.

However, upon crosschecking with relevant agencies, investigators established that Francis had two destinations almost the same time. Police confirmed that he had booked Nairobi for treatment and changed to UK was on short notice.

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