Maxine Wahome
The High Court was left stunned this week following revelations that a forensic report by the Government Chemist, dated 26 September 2023 and signed by Government Analyst Dr. M. Muthini, had been withheld from Maxine Wahome’s defense until the analyst unexpectedly appeared in court.
The report, produced as Exhibit 10(c), disclosed that the stomach contents of the late Assad Khan contained traces of ketamine, a narcotic substance known to cause hallucinogenic effects when abused.
Further analysis indicated that Khan had possibly mixed trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA), a designer amphetamine-based stimulant and psychedelic drug, with the Jameson whisky (40% ethanol) he had been consuming at his residence.
In his testimony, Dr. Muthini explained that hallucinogenic effects could lead an individual to experience delusions such as the ability to fly, break walls, or smash glass with their limbs, oblivious to personal danger.
He described such effects as an “out-of-body experience.”
A separate alcohol test conducted at Nairobi Hospital immediately after the incident revealed that Khan had a blood alcohol level of 203 mg/dl, a dangerously high concentration.
According to Dr. Walong, for someone with underlying conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, consuming large quantities of alcohol mixed with narcotics could induce cardiac arrest and prove fatal.
Hospital records presented in court confirmed that Khan suffered a cardiac arrest upon arrival at Nairobi Hospital and had to be resuscitated.
Khan was known to have diabetes and hypertension.
The defense strongly protested that the prosecution had deliberately withheld the Government Chemist’s report from them for over five months.
They argued that if they had access to the report earlier, they would have pressed for the withdrawal of the murder charges against their client, Maxine Wahome.
The findings, they asserted, supported Wahome’s defense that Khan, while intoxicated and “high,” had attacked her and attempted to break a glass door by kicking and smashing two window panes to reach the keys, which Wahome had locked on the outer side of the kitchen balcony.
The prosecution also presented testimony from Government Pathologist Dr. Peter Ndegwa, Dr. Oloo Walong, and Dr. Andrew Gacii, who jointly conducted the post-mortem on Khan’s body.
All three testified that Khan’s death was caused by hospital-acquired, drug-resistant infections that led to septicemia.
They maintained that none of the blunt or sharp force injuries sustained were fatal.
The pathologists agreed that the cut to Khan’s Achilles tendon could have resulted from broken glass on the balcony door and that the bruises on his head and hands were consistent with a fall down a flight of stairs as he attempted to take himself to the hospital.
Dr. Hussein of Avenue Hospital, where Khan was admitted to the ICU, had earlier testified that the hospital failed to test for or detect septicemia and, as a result, did not treat Khan for the condition, leading to his death. He conceded that the injuries Khan suffered were not life-threatening.
Philip Murgor SC, the lead defense counsel, has formally complained to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), accusing the prosecution of misconduct and suppression of exculpatory evidence.
In a letter dated 6 March 2025, Murgor requested the immediate withdrawal of murder charges against Wahome due to a lack of evidence, citing the Government Chemist’s findings and medical testimonies.
