Kenya frees four over Briton killing
Updated on 10 August 2007
A Kenyan court has acquitted four men charged with the murder of British filmmaker and naturalist Joan Root last year.
The 69-year-old conservationist was shot in her home in Naivasha, 56 miles northwest of the capital Nairobi.
Magistrates said the evidence from 13 witnesses against the four suspects was defective.
Magistrate Nicholas Njagi said: "The investigation was shoddy. None of the witnesses positively identified the accused as being on the scene during the incident."
Attackers broke through Ms Root's bedroom window and shot her in her bed three times at point blank range using an AK-47 rifle in January last year.
The four suspects, one of whom worked for the filmmaker, were released to their tearful families after being kept over a year on remand.
Known for braving the wrath of hippos and spitting cobras in front of the camera, Ms Root made films commemorating African wildlife and aiding conservation efforts during the 1970s.
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