Police probe death of BBC employee Kate Mitchelle at her Nairobi hotel room
Detectives are investigating the death of BBC journalist Kate Mitchell whose body was found at her Nairobi hotel room on Friday.
Detectives are investigating the death of BBC employee Kate Mitchell whose body was found at her Nairobi hotel room on Friday.
Preliminary investigations show that the employee may have been strangled to death by a man she had been with earlier at the hotel.
The two, whose relationship is unknown, are reported to have been embroiled in an argument that turned into an altercation.
Mitchell is reported to have pressed the alarm bell when the altercation worsened. She was strangled before she could receive any help.
According to Nairobi Regional Police Commander Benjamin Nthumbi, Mitchell hotel room’s door was locked from inside when detectives arrived.
They found her lifeless body inside the room and noticed some broken window chippings on the floor.
“Upon checking through the window, the detectives saw a man’s body lying on the ground. He was later identified as the man Mitchell had been seen with earlier," Mr Nthumbi said.
"The man had jumped off the eighth floor of the hotel through the room’s window,” said Mr Nthumbi.
The employee, who is reported to have just returned to the country, was attached to BBC Media Action's office in Ethiopia.
The office located in Addis Ababa focuses on telling true stories on unsafe and illegal migration, health and media development.
An internal communication to BBC staff in Nairobi says the circumstances surrounding her death are unclear.
“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 to staff stated.
In the past Mitchell has worked in Zambia, South Sudan and most recently in Ethiopia.
Editor’s note:
An earlier version of this story indicated that Kate Michell was a journalist with the BBC. BBC has since informed the Nation that Kate was an employee working with its international charity, and the article has been updated to reflect her role.
