Hotel cleared Keroche heiress Tecra Muigai’s blood before police arrived

The manager of a guest house where the late Keroche heiress Tecra Muigai fell ordered her blood cleaned up from the floor where she lay before police visited the scene, an inquest has heard.

The manager did not report the incident to the nearest police station, Lamu Chief Inspector Evans Mwandandu Chea testified.

Inspector Chea said the manager asked a waiter to clean up the blood stains on the staircase where her boyfriend, Mr Omar Lali, said he found Tecra.

“I asked the manager and he said they were aware of the incident but had not reported it to the police station,” Mr Chea said.

“He could not explain why he had asked a waiter to clean up the blood before police officers arrived.”

He said the manager also informed him that another officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had already collected two vodka, one white wine and soda bottles.

Meanwhile, a government analyst who examined samples extracted from her body said he did not find any toxic substances or alcohol in them.

The analyst, Mr James Matinde, said all he detected was an “anticonvulsant drug in the liver sample”.

He said the drug had been administered to Tecra but he could not state what ailment was being treated.

Mr Matinde, who testified in the inquest to establish the cause of her death, said he received six samples from one of the investigating officers.

“I did not find any toxicological substance which could have contributed to the death of Tecra,” Mr Matinde said in response to questions from Mr Lali’s lawyer, Yusuf Abubakar.

But Mr Matinde said it is hard to detect alcohol in body samples more than eight hours after death.

Tecra fell at Jaha Guest House on the Shela beach in Malindi, Kilifi County, on April 24, 2020.

She allegedly suffered head injuries and collapsed. She was taken to King Fahad Hospital before being flown to Nairobi Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on May 2, 2020.

Inspector Chea told Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul that Mr Lali told him that “on the night of April 23/24 2020, he chewed miraa and drank beer with his fiancée Tecra”.

Mr Lali told police that at around 5.30am he was woken up by a loud bang and a funny noise.

He said he awoke to find Tecra lying on the floor with blood oozing from her ear.

Mr Lali said he called his brothers and they took her to a dispensary. She was referred to King Fahad Hospital and later flown to Nairobi Hospital.

Mr Chea testified that Mr Lali told him Tecra fell on a staircase.

Senior counsel James Orengo is representing the family of Tecra.

The inquest was adjourned until February 23/24, 2022.

[email protected]