Murder probe launched after BBC worker is found dead in hotel in Kenya

Aerial view of downtown Nairobi
AFP via Getty Images
Sami Quadri22 November 2021

A BBC worker has been found dead in her hotel room after a suspected murder in Kenya.

Nairobi police discovered Kate Mitchell’s body shortly after an emergency alarm was activated in her eighth-floor room on Friday.

Her room window had been smashed to pieces and the lifeless body of a man was found on the ground outside her hotel.

Mitchell worked for BBC Media Action, the organisation’s charitable arm.

Nairobi police chief Augustine Thumbi said: “We are investigating circumstances surrounding these deaths, but so far it is apparent the man jumped (out of) the window after killing her.

“We do not know the motive so far, and these are things the investigators are trying to put together.”

A spokesman for the BBC said Mitchell was a “much-loved” member of the team who had worked for the corporation for 14 years.

BBC Media Action CEO Caroline Nursey said: “We are all shocked and horrified by this terrible news.

“Kate was a much-loved member of staff…she was well known across our whole organization, especially by our teams in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zambia, and London.

“We send our deepest condolences to her family and her many friends around the world.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in