Post-mortem reveals what killed Nakuru doctor James Gakara
Nakuru doctor James Gakara's family and friends at the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital on September 22, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Dr Titus Ngulungu, a government pathologist, reported traces of drugs in the body and the presence of injection marks on one of the arms.
A post-mortem on the remains of Nakuru’s Doctor James Gakara, alleged to have killed his two children before attempting suicide, has revealed that he died as a result of ingesting an unknown substance.
Dr Titus Ngulungu, the government pathologist who conducted the exam at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital mortuary on Friday, reported traces of drugs in the body and the presence of injection marks on one of the arms.
"As a result of my examination, I have formed the opinion that the cause of death was a foreign substance suspected to be medicine,” Dr Ngulungu said, noting, however, that the type of substance was not immediately clear.
“For now we cannot establish if the medicine in his body was administered by him or by a doctor. We have taken organ and tissue samples to the Government Chemist, where they will be analysed to establish if there was something else and if it was poisonous,” he added.
“We cannot stipulate when the results will be out. The family may proceed with burial arrangements in the meantime.”
Government pathologist, Dr Titus Ngulungu, addresses the media after examining the body of Nakuru doctor James Gakara, at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital mortuary, on September 24, 2021.
The post-mortem was conducted in the presence of the families of Dr Gakara and his widow, Ms Winnie Odhiambo.
It was to take place on Thursday but was delayed twice, after the family was asked to produce documents from a lawyer to verify the doctor’s identity, and later told that the government pathologist was unavailable.
More on this: Nakuru doctor James Gakara's post-mortem delayed
What happened
Dr Gakara was found unconscious on his bed at his Milimani Apartments home on Saturday night.
He was quickly hospitalised and had been battling for his life for four days when he died on Wednesday morning.
The bodies of his son Dylan and daughter Karuana, aged three and five respectively, were found in a different room in the same house.
They were first taken to the Nakuru Municipal Morgue and transferred to PNN mortuary on Monday morning by the family.
At the house, police found assorted drugs the doctor is suspected to have injected his children and himself.
A post-mortem on the bodies of the two minors was conducted on Sunday at the Nakuru County morgue, with detectives collecting samples for further analysis as it did not show the exact cause of death.
Mr Burton Njoroge, spokesperson of the family of Nakuru doctor James Gakara, addresses the media at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital mortuary following a post-mortem on September 24, 2021.
Family spokesperson, Mr Burton Njoroge, said they were told they would be informed of the results at a later date.
"We were told to wait for the reports since the case is under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and doctors. They will give us the reports once they are ready," he said.
Mr Njoroge said the family was making arrangements to bury the doctor and the two children.
They will be buried next Tuesday at their Mbaruuk home in Gilgil Sub-county following a requiem mass at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Milimani on Monday.
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