52 samples taken in Mutula death probe

Doctors collected 52 samples for testing to establish the cause of Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo’s death.

A source close to the family and a doctor involved in the investigations said they would conduct a wide range of tests, including for the sophisticated poison, Polonium 210.

All the tests will be conducted locally and no samples will be sent abroad.

Polonium 210 is a deadly radiation poison, which causes victims to waste away and to lose hair and teeth. Because of its highly radioactive nature, normally areas visited by a polonium victim are quarantined to prevent further poisoning.

Government pathologist Johansen Oduor declined to comment on the polonium reports.

“We will carry as many tests as possible to remove any doubts. The tests are informed by what we saw,” Dr Odour said.

The analysis of the samples has started at the Government Chemist, he said, and results will be expected in eight-to-10 weeks.

“No sample will be taken out of the country as all the samples collected can be analysed locally,” he said.

The tests will confirm the cause of death and rule out other possibilities.

The samples included the nail, hair, tissues from the bone and skin, saliva, urine. Three different samples were collected for the police, the visiting foreign pathologist, and for preservation.

The pathologists were reported to have agreed on the cause of death and want to offer a conclusive report after the analyses have been done.

Detectives now have over 100 samples collected both from the scene of death and at the mortuary during the autopsy.

In Maanzoni, detectives collected some pieces of meat, charcoal that was used to roast the meat, the plates used to serve the food, water and two soft drinks.

The family yesterday expressed optimism that the death would be resolved, partly due to the involvement of Dr Ian Calder and Dr Emily Rogena.

“Dr Calder provided leadership and insisted that as many samples as possible had to be collected,” a family member who attended the post-mortem said.

Dr Rogena, a senior lecturer at the Department of Human Pathology at the University of Nairobi, was among the team of pathologists who took part in the post-mortem examination of marathon star Samuel Kamau Wanjiru. She also testified at the commission that investigated the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Prof George Saitoti, Mr Orwa Ojodeh and four police officers in a helicopter crash last year.

Polonium 210 hit the headlines when it was used to kill KGB agent-turned-Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

Litvinenko suffered nausea, hair loss, throat swelling and pallor, all said to be typical effects of the poisoning. In July last year, Yasser Arafat’s widow called for the Palestinian leader’s body to be exhumed after scientists in Switzerland found traces of Polonium-210 on clothing he allegedly wore before his death in 2004.

It is not clear whether the pathologists observed any of the symptoms of radiation poisoning on Senator Kilonzo or whether they merely wished to rule it out.

Police have questioned four employees at the Maanzoni ranch. A source close to the investigation said those interviewed are the farm manager, a cook, a supervisor and the housekeeper. More employees are lined up for police interviews with the aim of testing consistency in their accounts on what happened on the material day.

The investigation is headed by deputy head of the Serious Crimes Unit at the directorate of criminal investigations headquarters in Nairobi. The police would also want to establish if there were any persons who visited the farm on Saturday when the Senator was found dead.