A wealthy Briton who died on Valentine’s Day in 2013 was buried according to Islamic rites yet he was not a Muslim.
A public inquest into the death of Harry Roy Veevers, 65, heard that a physician, Dr Salim Omar, indicated he died of cardiac arrest without carrying out an autopsy.
Veveers' sons from his first marriage wanted his second wife and two stepdaughters charged with his murder, but the court set up a public inquest.
On Thursday, former Kisauni DCIO Joseph Kioko told the inquest that Dr Omar released the body for burial to the widow, Azra Parveen Din, without notifying the police.
“During my investigations, I learnt that Omar was at Veevers' residence the day he died and had helped the widow to remove the body to Pandya Memorial Hospital without involving the police. Soon after he was buried as a Muslim despite the deceased not being a Muslim,” he said.
Kioko said traces of cyhalothrin were found in his stomach tissues and the wet soil at the burial site. Cyhalothrin is a pesticide.
A postmortem was carried out after the High Court ordered the body exhumed.
“While the autopsy concluded Veevers had died of poisoning from a highly toxic pesticide, Omar had indicated the cause of death as “cardiopulmonary arrest due to myocardial infarction," Kioko said.
The deceased was living with his second wife and her two daughters Alexandria and Hellen Azra. A close friend, John Whitehead, earlier told the inquest Veveers was planning to marry another woman.
His two sons from his first wife, Richard and Philip, have accused their stepsisters and their stepmother of conspiring to kill their father.
The body has been lying at the Coast Provincial General Hospital morgue since it was exhumed. More than 10 witnesses have testified so far.
The inquest heard that Dr Omar lied to police that the deceased had been treated at Mombasa hospital before he died. Records signed by the hospital administrative director show Veveers was never admitted at the facility. The inquest continues
