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Justice Comes Slowly for Fr. Kaiser |
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It was murder, Kaiser probe rules
Story by MARK AGUTU
Publication Date: 8/2/2007
Catholic
priest Antony John Kaiser [sic] was murdered, contrary to claims by the
world-renowned American Federal Bureau of Investigations and Kenyan
police that he killed himself.
An
inquest into the priest’s death trashed FBI’s report advancing the
“Suicide Theory” saying it was based on a preconceived notion that the
priest killed himself and not any concrete evidence.
It also ruled out possibilities of the priest having
been mentally unstable saying no tangible evidence was tabled in court
to back the claim.
But Chief Magistrate Maureen Odero
said she could not — on the basis of evidence tabled before her in the
inquest — point out with certainty who the priest’s killers were.
Consequently, Mrs Odero
recommended that police carry out a fresh round of investigations to
ascertain those behind the priest’s grisly death seven years ago.
She zeroed in on a number of
people who should be investigated to determine whether or not they played any role at all in the death of Fr Kaiser.
Fr Kaiser met his death on the night of August 23-24, 2000 and his body was found at the Morendant Junction along the Naivasha-Nakuru High way. The cause of death was massive head injury due to a gun shot to the head.
According to the court, those who should face investigations are a Catholic Church Catechist Francis Kantai, who was serving under Fr Kaiser at the
Lolgorian Parish within Ngong diocese at the time. Though it was stated that Mr Kantai was close to Fr Kaiser, his behaviour in the period leading to the priest’s death raised many questions.
His
evidence was in the court’s view “unreliable, evasive and
contradictory” besides a personal admission that he lied to the FBI. He
also disappeared after Fr Kaiser’s death and never attended his
funeral, as expected of a friend.
Others to be investigated are Kenya Wildlife Service game rangers at the Mara game park Samuel Kortom, Joseph Kupasar and Daniel Suya.
Their
involvement in the disappearance of a rifle and a magazine from Mara
Serena armoury around this time, raised many questions that beg for
answers.
Loss of firearm
“It
is not lost to the court that the rifle is a high powered firearm
similar to the type used to kill Fr Kaiser. It is highly suspicious
that close to the time Fr Kaiser meets his death a mystery still exists
as to the loss of a firearm and a magazine from the Mara,” Mrs Odero observed.
But the inquest cleared former Cabinet minister Julius Sunkuli who it had been claimed in the inquest was unhappy with the priest’s involvement with two girls — Ann Suwayo and Florence Mpayei — who had lodged rape complaints against the Kilgoris MP.
“If Sunkuli
wanted to eliminate a person because of these allegations, then in the
court’s view, he would have targeted the girls themselves or his named
political detractors and not Fr Kaiser who was not the source of the
allegations.
 “It is probably true that Sunkuli
may have been unhappy that Fr Kaiser supported these girls but then
many other people offered support to the two girls including the
officials at FIDA who filed cases on behalf
of the girls. Why would he target Fr Kaiser whose role in the whole
thing was peripheral?” the court posed.
While trashing the suicide theory, Mrs Odero
gave the FBI a tongue lashing, dismissing their report as “replete with
loopholes and missing links and raised more questions than answers.”
Despite
the priest being an American citizen, the FBI took a very casual
approach to this investigation as evidenced by their failure to
consider any alternative theory to explain Fr Kaiser’s death and their
ignoring very blatant anomalies, Mr Odero said.
“On the whole this court finds the FBI report to be seriously flawed, superficial and lopsided.
She
said her decision was based on evidence at the scene such as the state
of the priest’s pick-up which bore signs of a knock with another
vehicle and the body posture. Key police witnesses also testified that
the scene looked interfered with.
Following the decision which is likely to pave way for fresh investigations, the court granted a request by Catholic’s lawyer Mbuthi Gathenji that the exhibits tabled before the inquest be preserved.
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