Mysterious trail of hotel killings and abductions baffle police

Man killed in a hotel room; victim; Fred Davies Tangul

Police are under pressure to unravel the mysterious cases of murder and abduction in Mombasa.

The daylight abduction of Evans Odhiambo Odoyo, 21, a third year student of Moi University, outside Zulfat Hatimy Complex on Tuesday has raised insecurity fears.

This comes after the murder of a 20-year-old man in a hotel on Easter Monday, March 28.

Fred Davis Tongo alias Freddy was killed in a room in Summerlink Hotel by four men whose images were captured on CCTV cameras.

Tongo’s murder is the third case to be reported in Mombasa hotels in recent months.

An engineer working for the China Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) was found dead in his hotel room on February 14.

Police said Geoffrey Ondiek was found hanging from the roof of his room in Mwembe Tayari on that fateful Sunday morning.

However, the officers could not establish whether he committed suicide or if his killers had hanged him to cover up the killing.

On September 5, last year a United Nations anti-narcotics official Shamus Mangan, 41 was found dead in his room in a luxurious Mombasa hotel. Police said they found narcotics by his bedside, fuelling speculation that he may have died from a drug overdose. Mangan was hurriedly buried in a Muslim cemetery in Mombasa and it was not clear whether an autopsy was done or if investigation into the death had been launched. Police have declined to discuss the matter.

Details on Tongo’s murder investigation are scanty and it is not clear whether detectives have located his family.

Mombasa Deputy OCPD Patrick Njoroge said an autopsy was done on Tongo’s body but would not disclose details other than saying “the detectives involved in the case have the details.”

Yesterday Chief government pathologist Johanssen Oduor told The Standard on Sunday that he learnt about the murder on television and could not therefore tell if an autopsy was conducted on the body.

Initially police, suspected that Tongo died from a viagra overdose or was killed by a woman after a sexual escapade.

Mombasa police have also not been able to arrest the suspected killers who were captured by the CCTV camera.

An analysis of the CCTV footage shows that Tongo was lured to the hotel by the suspects and killed by strangulation.

Condoms were strewn on the floor of the room to create the impression that he had sex with someone.

Police said investigations into the murder are ongoing and they are still analysing the CCTV footage.

The CCTV footage seen by KTN shows four men entering the hotel and booking two double rooms.

One man comes out of a room to make a call, apparently to lure the victim who walks in moments later.

Before leaving the room one the suspects comes out to survey if the corridors are clear while pretending to be on phone before another one wipes the lock of the door and key hole to remove fingerprints.

The four men leave the hotel using the stairs while clutching back packs.

Investigators now suspect Tongo was suffocated with a pillow and there are indications that he was raped or sodomised. On Friday Njoroge said, “we are trying to analyse the CCTV footage so that we can be able to establish the identity of these men. But we are unable to tell what kind of a man he was, whether he was a student or working because we didn’t find any documents on his body.” Police suspect Tongo was lured to his death by the men after a business deal gone sour.

“We are analysing the man’s sim card which we managed to recover from the scene before the body was taken to Coast General Hospital,” said one of the investigators who sought anonymity.

The investigators say the deceased spoke with several people around the time he was killed.

And the missing university student’s mother Caroline Akinyi, yesterday said Odoyo was bundled into a black car by three men before they sped off towards Mama Ngina Drive.

Ms Akinyi added that his phone has since been switched off and efforts to locate him have been futile.

“Odoyo was standing outside a restaurant when three men emerged from a black car that had been parked there and bundled him into the vehicle and sped off towards Mama Ngina Drive.” she said.

However, security agents said they were not aware of the incident as it had not been reported.

“We have not yet received a report to that effect. The family ought to have made a report at Central Police Station for officers to follow it up,” said Njoroge.