Eldoret politician's children were strangled to death, autopsy shows

The three children of Eldoret politician James Ratemo were strangled to death before being dumped in River Trans Nzoia.

An autopsy report showed the minors died as a result of strangulation, and not drowning.

The post-mortem, conducted by Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital pathologist Kibet Keitany, revealed that the minors were killed on the day they were kidnapped on their way to church on May 13.

"There were deep strangulation marks which were not easily visible because the bodies had decomposed when they were found. Our investigations ruled out any possibility of drowning though our studies were limited because the internal organs were decomposing," said Dr Keitany.

Decomposing bodies

The bodies of the first two children of the Kapsoya Ward Kanu aspirant were found and taken to the mortuary on May 16 and 17 while the third one was retrieved from the same river on May 19.

Water animals had devoured external body tissues, including the eyes, thus limiting their examination.

"We can conclude that the children died of manual strangulation owing to the deep marks on their necks," said the pathologist.

The family's spokesman, Charles Nyamweya, said the autopsy, which lasted nearly five hours, had confirmed their fears that the children were killed.

"What we need the police to do now is to conduct a forensic evidence analysis to conclude the evidence now that the autopsy has been concluded," said Mr Nyamweya.

He said they were expecting more culprits to be arrested based on the phone records of the suspect who is in custody.

"We expect the police to cast wide their net and get to the bottom of the murders," he said.