AUKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (July 11, 2008) – Police in Kenya have identified five suspects in the murder of New Zealand photojournalist Trent Keegan, but none of them are under arrest, a newspaper in Auckland reported today.
The New Zealand Herald reports that police have recovered 15 items that were stolen from Keegan, including his laptop and digital camera.
Keegan's badly beaten body was found in a drainage ditch in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 28.
Police have deemed Keegan's death as "a robbery with violence," which is a capital offense in Kenya. The next step, if there is one, will be for the suspects to be charged with the crime in court, police said.
A New Zealand native, Keegan had been working in Ireland as a freelance photojournalist and arrived in Africa in March and was shooting stories in Kenya and Tanzania. Friends and family members say Keegan was working on a story about a shady land deal that supposedly would displace tribes in Kenya to make way for a new safari park.
One news report says Keegan had filed a complaint with police after he was harassed by security people from the safari park. Police have not identified the suspects in Keegan's death or said whether they have any affiliation with Keegan's complaint.
