Munyonyo Septic Tank Murder: Onebe Told Friends His Wife Had Been Seen in 4 Areas

Courtesy image of Francis Onebe

Friends have revealed to detectives investigating the murder of Immaculate Asio Onebe that her husband, Francis Onebe, had on four separate occasions told them that his missing wife had been sighted in four different locations in Kampala.

Asio went missing on January 6th this year and her husband Onebe quickly came out claiming she had been abducted by unknown people moving in a Toyota Hiace acommonly known as Drone.

Onebe presented a CCTV footage showing his wife returning from a grocery but being followed by a woman dressed in black. In the same clip, a vehicle that looks like a Drone stops adjacent to her as she walks towards her home at Kaggwa Rise, Lower Mawanga village, Munyoyo Parish, in Makindye West constituency.

Events surrounding Asio’s disappearance took a twist last week when a body suspected to be hers was retrieved from a septic tank. This was after a security guard, Bonny Oriokot, who had gone missing a day after Asio’s disappearance abruptly returned to the home he was guarding and he was arrested by new guard.

During interrogation, Oriokot boldly told police that Onebe knew where his wife was. Police summoned Onebe to CID headquarters. But his statements differed from the ones earlier made when he reported Asio was missing. A decision was taken to search in the septic tank. That was when a body of a woman was seen with a heavy bag placed on its chest.

But detectives at Criminal Investigations Directorate – CID have intimated that three of Onebe’s close friends including a relative say they started doubting Onebe’s story as early as April. This was after Onebe would once in a while call one of them claiming that Asio had been sighted in one of the close suburbs of Kampala.

In one of the suspicious calls, Onebe informed a relative that Asio had been seen in Kololo. Five weeks later, Onebe reportedly said she had been seen in Buziga. On separate occasions Onebe said Asio had been sighted in Bunga or Muyenga.

“He could spend like three weeks or a month without giving any information about his wife’s disappearance. Out of the blue he calls saying Asio had been seen somewhere. We wondered why security agencies like CMI, crime intelligence he had approached could not see Asio but only strangers,” said a detective.

Onebe is the proprietor of Price and King auditing firm. He is aged 72 two years, according to police, while the allegedly murdered wife was 63 years old. Investigators have described Asio’s suspected murder as a puzzle since the bar that was placed on her chest also contained human remains such as a skull, arms and legs.

CID Spokesperson, Charles Twine, said DNA analysis could take some time since the body had decomposed in a septic tank and body cells had long ‘died’ out. Police say now strong reagents need to be applied in order to ‘awaken’ the cells for better results.

As of now, police are following up three clues as the cause of Asio’s murder. Basing on what Asio documented about the torture she was enduring in the hands of unmentioned family members, police suspects it was a murder by domestic violence. There is also a line of property wrangles and witchcraft. The planned third search of the home was halted on Tuesday.

-URN