British national arrested over murder of a Kenyan woman in Nairobi

Richard David Alden

Businessman Richard David Alden was on Saturday arrested after he shot dead a woman at his Karen home.

Alden, 53 and a British national was arrested after he told police a woman he was with for the better part of Saturday had shot herself dead in his house.

Alden and the woman identified as Grace Wangechi Kinyanjui, 42 have been running an athletics agency, which procured athletes to compete internationally, police revealed.

Alden has been in the country since 2015 and his work permit was to expire next year December. He is a licensed gun holder.

It is not clear if he and the woman had any affair as claimed. The woman lived in South C but was a frequent visitor at the home.

According to Nairobi police boss Japheth Koome, the suspect was held after a physical examination showed Wangechi’s body had visible injuries that suggested murder.

For instance, the examination revealed the bullet entered on the back of her head, there were three open wounds on the left side of her neck, a fractured left thumb and ring finger and an injured back with stab wounds.

“They were the only people in the house and when scenes of crime officers went there they also found a blood stained towel in the dressing room where the murder took place. It is murder and he is in custody for that,” said Koome.

He added that police were alerted by Alden’s guards who said they saw him drag the lifeless body to his car and later rushed her to the Karen hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Police visited the scene and recovered a spent cartridge from the house and later confiscated his Gloak pistol with 34 live bullets.

It is not clear what triggered the shooting but Alden told police he and the woman were to travel to Nanyuki where he planned to settle on a farm he had bought and he had told Wangechi to pack their belongings in readiness for the relocation.

“The guards say the two have been jogging in the area together and they ran an agency for athletes. We are yet to establish what triggered the commotion and subsequent shooting,” said Koome.

The police boss said Alden would be produced in court on Monday with murder charges as investigations continue.

According to reports, from 1998 to 2009 he was the Chief Executive Officer and a founding director of ONO, the largest cable television and telecommunications operator in Spain. He was also the CEO of Groupe Videotron, Optel Inc