Tamati Oyondi Mauti, the key suspect in the murder of a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) project manager has been buried
Mauti allegedly killed the Briton in a Kileleshwa hotel, then committed suicide or was murdered by third parties.
The suspect, a radiographer had gone to the hotel to fix a deal. It went sour and both ended up in a morgue.
Katherine Mitchell Rowena was found dead in her hotel room. Police are yet to conclusively establish the motive.
She was allegedly stabbed before being strangled to death.
Police said preliminary investigations pointed to a murder-suicide case, adding that the man whose body was found in the same Ibis Styles Hotel, died from a fall.
Nairobi regional Police Commander Augustine Nthumbi said the deceased man could have killed the woman, before jumping from the window.
“The main suspect in the murder of the female Briton is believed to be the middle-aged man whose lifeless body was also found in the hotel, Ibis Styles Hotel, having fallen from the same floor,” police said.
Detectives however said they were conducting a thorough probe and could not rule out the murder of the two.
Nthumbi said some of the hotel staff responded to a panic button but when they went to the room, they found out that it was locked from inside.
According to the hotel’s assistant security manager Jackson Enzoli, he got the report at around 3.38 am that an alarm had been triggered from room 810 where the journalist had been staying since Tuesday last week.
He rushed to the room but could not access it as it had been locked from inside. He then called the technician who managed to force it open.
“They found the female guest lying down naked in the bathroom and immediately called an ambulance. When the medical staff arrived, they confirmed she had a stab wound at the lateral left side of the neck and bruises around the eye,” police added.
The occupant, a female Briton who had checked in on November 14, was also not responding. The hotel then summoned medical help and the ambulance crew that rushed to the scene confirmed that she had actually died and that she also had a stab wound around the neck.
“There was evidence of blunt trauma. The victim had no sense of life and there were no signs of breathing and no pulse,” the medical team wrote.
Documents found with the deceased indicated that he was Henry Tamati Mauti, aged 29.
Detectives analysed the room and said there were signs of struggle and on a further check realized that the window appeared to have been forced open and had cracks.
On checking through the window, the body of the man was seen on the first floor, directly below that window.
Police said Mitchell checked in at the Hotel on November 16 alone and could have been joined by the man.
Apparently, Mitchell had an argument with the man that later escalated into an altercation. When the situation worsened, she pressed the panic button.
Detectives said the woman had earlier been seen with the man whom they proceeded with to the room.
“Some witnesses positively identified the body as that of the man who had been the woman earlier. We are also investigating to establish whether he was pushed to death through the window or he jumped out after sensing that the woman had pressed the panic button and that the hotel security staff could be after him,” Nthumbi said.
The man, a graduate of USIU, had studied radiography.
His girlfriend Mitchell Akinyi who he was supposed to marry in December was at the lobby waiting for him. They had booked a room on the seventh floor of the same hotel.
She told police she knew her boyfriend was to meet the woman at the hotel for a business as a fixer. That is why they booked a room there.
She said she did not know what had happened until the following day when police called her to the station to record her statement.
She was distraught as she had waited for Mauti to come back that night in vain forcing her to go and sleep alone.
According to an internal email circulated to the staff, the deceased was attached to the BBC Media Action.
The BBC employee is said to have just returned to the country and was attached to BBC Media Action’s office in Ethiopia.
The office located in Addis Ababa focuses on telling true stories on unsafe and illegal migration, health and media development.
According to the BBC, Mitchell’s career at the BBC spanned 14 years and saw her work with many people on the continent.
“Kate worked with so many people over the past 14 years, particularly in Zambia, South Sudan and most recently in Ethiopia. This news will be incredibly difficult for all of us, and especially for those teams who worked closely with Kate,” BBC wrote.
