Africa-Press – Kenya. Fresh details have emerged revealing the engagement and wedding plans of the prime suspect in the murder of a BBC Journalist at a hotel in Westlands, Nairobi on Friday, November 19.
The details paint the suspect as a man who was engaged and was on the verge of solemnising his union through the holy matrimony in December this year.
However, the plans of their wedding did not materialise after he allegedly jumped to his death from the eighth floor where the BBC Project Manager, Kate Mitchell, had booked a room in Westlands.
What has puzzled the detectives is that the prime suspect had booked a room with his fiancée on the seventh floor of the same building.
His fiancée kept waiting as he told her that he was heading to the bar briefly. She kept waiting for her boyfriend the entire night, but he did not show up.
As she waited for him, the suspect was reportedly engaged in a confrontation with the BBC project manager in a different room on the upper floor of the hotel. The suspect is said to have jumped from the hotel after the confrontation, dying on the spot.
The BBC Project Manager was later found dead inside her room.
As the events unfolded, the fiancee to the suspect came to learn of the unfortunate events at the Kilimani Police Station after she was picked by detectives to go record a statement.
The preliminary reports from police have so far established that the late suspect and the BBC Manager – a British national – had a few drinks before she left for her room.
“We suspect that this is when the two engaged in a scuffle that resulted in the death of Ms Mitchell, who after realising things were getting out of control, pressed the room’s alarm. This must have spooked the suspect, who, forgetting they were on the eighth floor, jumped out of the window and died,” the police told a local publication.
The reports further detailed that the BBC Project Manager’s room was locked from inside and the security officer had to call a technician to break the door.
She was found lying lifeless in the bathroom. Paramedics who responded to the alarm confirmed that the journalist was no more.
“Upon checking what may have happened, another body was discovered on the first floor,” part of the police report reads.
Both scenes were processed and the bodies taken to the mortuary awaiting post-mortem.
Mitchell’s family, through her brother Peter Mitchell, issued a statement stating that they were yet to come to terms with her death.
“She leaves behind many, many beloved friends and colleagues around the world. We want to extend our sympathies to everyone who knew, worked with and loved her, and our sincere thanks for the many messages of comfort we have received. We ask everyone to respect our family’s privacy as we grieve Kate’s loss,” her family stated.
The police are yet to release the post-mortem results revealing the cause of death.
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