Jonathan Moi, the first born son to former President Daniel Moi who passed on yesterday in Nakuru made headlines in 1988 after a British tourist Julie Ward vanished in the vast Masai Mara.
Her dismembered body would be found days later in what her father insists was a gruesome murder that saw Jonathan Moi’s name feature.
Reports of his alleged involvement originated from a Swiss TV crew before spreading to local headlines with a sensational article on published in a 2012 issue of the Nairobi Law Monthly alleging that Jonathan raped and murdered Julie Ward.
Jonathan refuted the claims stating that "I am totally shocked to hear this…I had no relationship with the said lady (Julie) and I even didn't know her. I never did such a thing and it has never crossed my mind to do it,"
Owing to press freedom and democratic space in the 1980s and 1990s, the matter was discussed in hushed voices even as the deceased father embarked on a mission to establish the truth.
According to reports published in The Telegraph, 28-year-old Ward was gang raped before being murdered in cold blood.
A former intelligence officer who claims that he witnessed the murder, told he Telegraph that "All the three men repeatedly raped the British tourist in turn as she pleaded for mercy…The things that I saw will live with me till I die."
Falling in love with the son of a prominent Rift Valley politician
According to Julie’s father John Ward, her daughter was murdered by the son of a prominent politician from Rift Valley.
It all began after Julie and her Australian boyfriend stumbled on the son of the prominent politician at a high-end restaurant in Nairobi where they had lunch.
In a past interview with The Nation, Ward claimed that the son of the prominent politician reportedly fell in love with his daughter.
In the process, the man offered to escort the couple to Maasai Mara. While there, the story went, the Suzuki Jeep broke down.
Her Australian boyfriend had to fly back to Nairobi to get spareparts.
But instead of returning to Maasai Mara, the boyfriend flew out of the country reportedly after he was ordered to do so by Kenyan authorities.
Julie didn’t like the turn of events. Subsequently she picked a quarrel with the son of the prominent politician. Then she vanished.
Government pathologist gives verdict
The official account of her death according to Government Pathologist Dr Jason Kaviti was that the tourist had died from animal bites.
To account for the burns on her body in case of any doubt, he said that she could also have been struck by lightning.
More than 30 years later since the death and the reports, no one has however been convicted.