Shakahola cult: Third phase of postmortems to start Wednesday

The third phase of the postmortem exercise on the bodies that were exhumed from the vast 800-acre Shakahola forest will start on Wednesday, chief government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor has said.

At least 93 bodies were exhumed in the 10-day third phase of the exhumation exercise that started on June 6 and stopped on June 16.

So far, the death toll of people who starved to death in phase I, II and III has clocked at 336 bodies.

“I’m currently in a meeting, and yes we intend to start the third phase of the autopsies on Wednesday,” Dr Oduor told the Star on the phone.

The bodies which are supposed to undergo autopsies are of the people believed to be followers of cult leader Paul Mackenzie, who is currently being held at Malindi GK Prison with 29 other co-accused persons.

They are accused of a litany of serious charges, including murder, counselling and aiding suicide, abduction, radicalization, genocide, crimes against humanity, child cruelty, fraud, and money laundering.

The third phase of the postmortem exercise starts the same day when Mackenzie and the 29 others are expected back at Shanzu Law Court for a ruling on whether the state should continue holding them for another 60 days or not.

The police want to continue holding Mackenzie for the deaths of hundreds of his followers who starved to death and their bodies buried in shallow mass graves inside the Shakahola forest.

Despite multiple court appearances, Mackenzie and his co-accused have not yet been formally charged.

In phase I and phase II of the autopsies, it was revealed that the majority of Mackenzie’s followers had died of starvation. It was also revealed that some had been asphyxiated to hasten their death.

Oduor has been leading the team of pathologists and forensic experts at Malindi Sub County Hospital to conduct autopsies on all the bodies that have so far been recovered.

In the first and second phases, out of the 243 bodies that had been exhumed, 73 of them were found to be minors, 158 adults and 12 were undetermined persons.

According to the autopsies, preliminary findings showed that 61 cases were uncertain, 92 people died from starvation, four cases of asphyxia, five cases of head injury, and one case of strangulation.

The state is also supposed to carry out DNA sampling and testing to ascertain the real identities of those who have died.

Over 464 persons have provided DNA samples to assist in identifying missing family members that are either believed to have perished or reported to have been missing about the Shakahola massacre.

Over 610 families have already reported their missing kin.

On June 2, Homicide detective Inspector Raphael Wanjohi, who is leading the investigations into Mackenzie’s atrocities, told the Shanzu court that the process of DNA sequencing and comparisons (DNA matching) has not started.

As of the first week of June, the government pathologists had only been able to retrieve DNA samples from only 12 bodies out of the 243.

Wanjohi told the court that the process of DNA sampling can only commence once a reasonable number of DNA samples from the bodies has been profiled and, in this instance, at least 50 bodies.

“The DNA profiling of bodies stand at 12 out 243 bodies so far exhumed,” he said.

Wanjohi said the time taken to sample DNA depend on the decomposition of bodies, and most of the bodies from Shakahola are severely decomposed.

“Based on data from pathologists, seven bodies were fresh, 49 were mildly or moderately decomposed, which will take at least 21 days to profile,” he said.

“Some 187 bodies were severely decomposed and will take 80 days to profile.”

To gather crucial evidence that will place Mackenzie and the other co-accused persons at the centre of the investigations, police have also retrieved DNA samples from them.

They have taken DNA samples from the majority of the suspects including Mackenzie, awaiting further forensic investigations for identification.