Police probe death of Briton mauled by dogs

Police in Malindi police have opened an investigation into last Tuesday’s mystery death of a 55-year-old Briton who was found dead in a pool of blood.

On Friday, police said an autopsy would be performed on Elizabeth Wright to determine the cause of her death amid initial reports that she may have been killed by her 31-year-old boyfriend, Fred Karisa, who claimed he was away from home at the time of the alleged attack.

By yesterday, it was not clear if the autopsy had been done or whether Kenyan authorities had delivered the report to the British High Commission.

Initial reports indicated Ms Wright’s body was found by neighbours who responded to screams from her residence.

However, later reports alleged it was Mr Karisa who discovered the body upon his return from Mombasa where he had gone on Tuesday morning, leaving Wright behind.

According to police, Wright came to Kenyan on August 6 and was to return to the United Kingdom on Friday.

Police said Karisa claimed to be her husband and had warned the Briton not to untie the three Rottweiler dogs, advice she apparently ignored.

County Police Commander Douglas Kanja said the woman might have been attacked by the dogs after she opened the cage, apparently to feed them or allow them movement in the gated compound.

It is not clear where the dogs were taken because police gave contradicting accounts.

Some said the dogs were killed by veterinary officials while others claimed the animals had been taken away by the Kenya Wildlife Service as part of the investigation.

The body was later moved to a private hospital in Mombasa.

“Today (last week Tuesday), Fred Karisa, 31, reported that on arrival from Mombasa, he found his wife, a British national Elizabeth Claire Wright, 51, dead at their homestead plot number 1213 in Watamu suspected to have been mauled by dogs,” said Mr Kanja in a report made on Tuesday.

Kanja said Karisa had reported that his wife was attacked by their three dogs, which later fed on the body before he arrived home at around 7.30pm.

“On the material day, Karisa left Watamu for Mombasa and warned her not to open for the dogs as they were not used to her,” said Kanja.

“When Karisa arrived at his house, he found the dogs feeding on the body before he caged them,” said Kanja.

Kanja warned that the dogs in question were of a dangerous breed as they are vicious and forgetful. He said most dogs that kill their owners happen to be Rottweilers. Kanja said he reported the matter to veterinary officers who killed them by injecting.