Tycoon's sons took photos of his body, inquest told

Prosecutor Alexander Muteti (left) interrogates Alexandra Veevers during an inquest into the death of her father, Harry Veevers, at the Mombasa Law Courts on May 2, 2017. 

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Testifying during an inquest into the death of her father Harry Veevers, Ms Alexandra Veevers said her two brothers Philip and Richard went into the morgue and shut its door.
  • Ms Veevers said her two brothers had put on gloves and had some instruments.
  • According to Ms Veevers, her brothers never disagreed on where their father was to be buried.

Two sons of a British tycoon whose death in Mombasa over four years ago is under probe unwrapped his body at a morgue prior to his burial, an inquest into his death heard.

Testifying before the panel probing the death of her father Harry Roy Veevers, Alexandra Veevers said her two brothers Philip and Richard went into the morgue and shut its door.

Mr Veevers, who was then living in Kenya, died on February 14, 2013.

Ms Veers said that on February 17, 2013 she was standing at the door of Pandya Hospital’s morgue when her brothers approached her, saying they wanted some time alone with their father.

“I left the two and they shut the door. The morgue attendant was outside," she told the magistrate.

INSIDE MORGUE

After about 15-20 minutes, she said, she went inside the morgue and saw that her brothers had unwrapped her father’s body.

Ms Veevers said the two men had put on gloves and had some instruments in their hands.

“Philip was opening the eyes (of his father) while Richard was video recording. I was shocked when I saw them,” said Ms Veevers, adding that her brothers said they had a right to their father’s body.

“I told them, 'I do not know what you are doing but you need to wrap the body, the mortuary attendant is coming', [and] Richard started arguing with me,” she said.

She told the inquest that after her father's burial, the family asked to see the photographs her brothers had taken at the morgue but they refused to share them.

Ms Veevers said Richard told her he thought their father had been poisoned.

“I asked him why he buried him. I was very upset. I could not deal with Richard’s conspiracy theories," she said.

NEVER DISAGREED

According to Ms Veevers, her brothers never disagreed on where their father was to be buried.

She said there was no objection when her mother, who was Mr Veevers’s second wife, told them that she did not need an autopsy conducted.

Ms Veevers said that six days after the burial of her father, her mother was issued with summons to attend a succession case.

The witness told the court that her father and mother had a perfect relationship and a “tight family” unit.

The hearing continues.