POLICE investigating the death of Careen Kili have narrowed down the time of her suspected murder to between 8am and noon on Monday February 13. Telephone records show that Careen's last telephone conversation was at 8am to a workmate at Kenya Power to inform her that she would be late to work, and would report at around 11am. Careen said that she had errands to run and would be delayed.
Police also found that two calls to her phone around noon went unanswered. One was from the same workmate concerned that she had stayed longer than expected, and the other was from someone she had an appointment with. Careen, the daughter of LAP Trust managing trustee Hosea Kili, was found dead on the morning of February 14, Valentine's Day, in her flat at Santonia Court, off Kirichwa Road in Kilimani area, Nairobi. She was an IT engineer with Kenya Power.
Initially suicide was suspected until government and private postmortems found the cause of death was strangulation. Renowned TV presenter Louis Otieno enjoyed a close relationship with Careen after he moved into Rose Park apartments in Kilimani a year ago. He occupied the ground floor flat while the Kili family lived in the flat above. Otieno has been interviewed several times by police but has strongly denied any involvement in her death.
Otieno has given police DNA samples including blood and finger nail clippings. Louis has said he was nowhere near Careen before her death. Phone records show that his phone was between Karen and Magadi in the period. Louis believes his name is being blackened by Careen's father, LAP Trust managing trustee Hosea Kili, and has countered that he was an abusive and tyrannical father. Careen was given an emotional burial yesterday at her home in Baraton, Nandi County.
Mosop MP David Koech demanded the immediate arrest of suspects and criticized the slow pace of investigations. “It will not take even a single day to nab them if the police and the Director of Public Prosecution Kerioko Tobiko mean business,” Koech told thousands of mourners. “We do not know how many he had killed and how many he plans to fell before he is arrested…the blood of Careen is crying,” Koech said.
He recalled that police were yet to arrest the killers of Mercy Keino who was mysteriously died on Waiyaki Way in Nairobi. She was a colleague of Careen at the University of Eastern Africa Baraton. At the burial her father Hosea Kili claimed that Careen was killed to stop her from making a formal complaint to the police over her debt problems. Kili told the mourners that Careen had decided to returned home like a prodigal daughter because her "toxic" relationship with Louis Otieno had broken down.
Kili revealed that there was a family meeting on the Sunday before she died where Careen said the relationship had resulted in huge debts she could not service. “She thought she could make the relationship work, but six months down the line, Careen was on her knees. I decided to take over all her debts as a father and she promised to return back home after learning life the hard way,” he said. "She handed over to me a handwritten confession of how her relationship with media personality Louis Otieno had failed to work and acknowledged that it had been a mistake from the start. I will make it available to you in due course at an appropriate time,” he told the mourners.
Police investigators yesterday confirmed that Careen's family had asked her to compile a list of all her debts so that her father could repay them for her. After the Sunday meeting, her brother dropped Careen at her apartment at around 8pm. She was discovered dead on Tuesday morning by family members after failing to take calls for almost 18 hours. A devoted Adventist, Kili said he had left vengeance to God. "As a family we are asking the Lord to take charge because we do not know for sure who will be the next," he said.
He disputed claims by Louis Otieno that he was a tyrant and an abusive parent from whom Careen was seeking to escape. He said he had brought up his children with strict Christian ideals of being responsible. He said there was massive evidence to identify those behind the killing. Kili said he would construct a chapel at Kibirbei village in memory of Careen.
Among those who attended the burial were Local Government PS Prof. Karega Mutahi, Housing PS Tirop Kosgei, Justice Hilary Chemitei and Baraton University fraternity led by Vice Chancellor Prof. Miriam Mwita. The burial ceremony was led by Pst. John Tuwei, the head of Baraton-Chepterit SDA district.
