The father of prime suspect implicated in the murder of Kate Mitchell, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Project Manager, has come out to defend his son's honour over the recent allegations.
Dan Mauti, father to deceased Tamati Mauti, described his son as one who had a bright future ahead of him. He wondered how he could be labelled a murderer.
The father also intimated that the family was not aware of Mitchell - pointing out that they only knew his fiancée, a journalist at NRG Radio.
"My son had a fiancée whom we all know and we knew of the plans for their wedding which was to happen soon," he stated.
The father noted that he learnt of his son's death through his wife who was called by someone pretending to be a lawyer. The caller asked her to rush to Kilimani police station over her son's demise.
Calling for speedy investigations, Dan also urged the police to release the postmortem results - which he pointed out, was conducted on Saturday, November 20, but the family was yet to see the report.
"The police keep telling us that they are investigating the matter. The management of the hotel where I hear my son died has also not told us anything," he stated.
The father's sentiments were echoed by Tamati's former university classmate who told Kenyans.co.ke that he (Tamati) was a decent and calm guy as opposed to the news being circulated on social media.
"He (Tamati) was an easy, decent guy - far from the shocking news that we have been treated to," she stated. Tamati graduated with a degree in International Relations and Journalism from the United States International University Africa (USIU).
Mitchell's body was found with stab wounds on the evening of Friday, November 19. Hours later, police officers who had arrived at the scene also found Mauti's body outside the hotel with reports indicating that he jumped off the eighth floor of the building through the room's window in order to evade the hotel security officers.
"The suspected culprit jumped off the eighth floor of the hotel through the room’s window after sensing that the hotel security might be after him,” Nairobi Region Police Commander, Augustine Nthumbi, informed the media.
