Kiwi killed by robbers in Kenya

| Monday, 24 September 2007

A New Zealander has been beaten to death after armed men broke into his apartment in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

ulian Nathan was on his first overseas experience at the age of 76, and loving it, when he was beaten to death in a Nairobi apartment at the weekend.

Mr Nathan was staying with two other engineers from the New Zealand avocado oil company Olivado at a gated compound in the Kenyan capital when a group of men broke in, armed with machetes.

Olivado chairman Gary Hannam said the men "somehow" got in through the gate.

"They climbed up to the second floor balcony. They forced the doors open and they came into the apartment and they bound and gagged our engineers," he told Radio New Zealand.

"They then went into the other bedroom where Julian was and they bound him as well. Then the guys heard that Julian was being beaten and he died."

Mr Nathan and the two other engineers, one from New Zealand and one from Australia, were in Kenya setting up an Olivado processing plant. Mr Nathan's son, Chris, is the company's managing director.

Mr Hannam's partner, Joy Draper, said from Auckland that police were being very thorough in their investigations.

"They were questioning other people in the compound, in other apartments, the cleaners," she said.

"They have told Gary they will get back to him by Wednesday with some answers.

"It's not an easy country as we know, and I guess they have a lot of these sorts of incidents to deal with there, but I believe they are making it quite a priority."

Ms Draper said the only reason she could think of for the apartment being targeted was that there was a "considerable amount" of cash on the premises.

"We've been setting up the plant and there's been a lot of payments to be made, and most of these are made in cash in Nairobi."

"So there have been constant withdrawals of cash. There was a safe in the apartment and we suspect that these intruders knew that there was money there, and computers and valuables."

It is understood a large sum of money and other items were taken.

Ms Draper said she did not know why Mr Nathan was specifically targeted for the beating which resulted in his death, but it was possible that he had seen the faces of his attackers.

His colleagues were asleep when the intruders broke in and were blindfolded without seeing them.

They thought perhaps Julian had looked at the men, Ms Draper said.

They were also demanding the combination for the safe from Julian, and he was saying he did not know it.

"Perhaps that was why they beat him. I suspect that probably they didn't intend to beat him to death, it was just something that happened."

The other men were "seriously traumatised" by the attack and counselling was being arranged for the pair when they returned home to Australia and New Zealand respectively.

Ms Draper said the company would have to rethink its move into Kenya, but that yesterday Chris Nathan was adamant that it should continue because Olivado was his father's passion.

"He said this company meant everything to Julian.

"Julian had not travelled a great deal, so the trip to Nairobi was his first overseas experience and he was loving the work, loving the people, so Chris is saying we should try to keep this going."

"We'll just have to try to find other engineers to continue with the plant and make it work."

Chris Nathan was today returning to New Zealand from his Brisbane home to be with family.

Mr Nathan's body is expected to be flown home this week.

- NZPA