Kenya Police,British High Commission Investigate Death of BBC Journalist

NAIROBI,Kenya, Nov, 21 – Detectives based in Nairobi are investigating the death of BBC journalist  Kate Mitchell who was found dead in her hotel room in the country’s capital.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the journalist attached to the BBC’s Media Action flagship operation in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia might have been strangled to death by an unidentified male who was also found dead outside the hotel room.

Nairobi regional Commander Augustine Nthumbi told Shahidi News that the deceased male had allegedly attempted to flee the scene through the Kileleshwa based hotel room window before falling to his death.

The hotel room was on the eight floor of the complex.

“The suspected culprit had jumped off the eighth floor of the hotel through the room’s window after sensing that the hotel security might be after him,” said Nthumbi.

Police said that the two might have been embroiled in a heated altercation before their untimely demise.

Mitchell had allegedly tried to call for help during the incident but her attempts proved futile.

Detectives that canvassed the crime scene revealed that Mitchell was found on her bed while shards of broken glass could be seen on the floor. This is said to have been as a result of the second deceased attempting to escape through the window.

The hotel room was also locked from the inside.

Witnesses at the scene revealed that the deceased male had been spotted with Mitchell at the hotel earlier during the day.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in an internal memo to its Nairobi staff announced the tragic news.

“We are working with the UK High commission and the police in Nairobi…there is no indication that her death is connected to her work or to the BBC,” the memo said in part. 

The deceased who had just returned to Nairobi from Addis Ababa has been described as a phenomenal journalist by colleagues.

Her body is being preserved at the local mortuary awaiting a postmortem examination as investigations continue even as detectives say the motive of the killing remains unknown at this point in time.