MOMBASA, Kenya – A Kenyan court has closed the decade-long inquest into the death of British property magnate Harry Roy Veevers, whose body has remained in a Mombasa mortuary for more than 11 years, but the ruling has left as many questions as answers.
Delivering a 95-page judgment in Mombasa this week, Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo ruled that the cause of Veevers’ death could not be established because his body had decomposed too severely by the time it was exhumed in 2014 — nearly a year after burial.
“The cause of death of the deceased remains unknown and as such nobody can be called to answer to any charge,” Odhiambo said, while urging the warring family to seek alternative forums to resolve disputes over his burial.
Veevers, a wealthy 64-year-old businessman with a vast property portfolio on Kenya’s coast, died on Valentine’s Day in 2013 at his Mombasa home, sparking an inheritance battle that has bitterly divided his family.
Family Split in Two
The case has pitted his two sons, Richard and Philip, from his first marriage, against his second wife, Azra Parvin Din, and their two daughters, Hellen and Alexandra.
The sons accused their stepmother and half-sisters of poisoning their father in order to control his multimillion-dollar estate — allegations the women have always denied. They insisted he died of natural causes.
The court heard that Veevers was buried swiftly in an Islamic ceremony under a different name, a move that angered his sons who claimed their father was not Muslim. His widow, however, testified that he had converted to Islam.
Tensions escalated when the sons obtained a court order for exhumation in 2013, but delays — blamed on legal wrangles — meant the process only took place nine months later, by which time the remains were too degraded for clear forensic results.
One expert report suggested traces of a toxic chemical, cyhalothrin, had been detected on the body and surrounding soil, but two other pathologists found no such evidence.
The magistrate concluded the conflicting testimonies made it impossible to determine the truth.
Courtroom Drama
The drawn-out hearings frequently turned chaotic. At one point, the sisters were reprimanded for shouting that a witness was lying.
In another, Hellen Veevers walked out of court wearing a vest scribbled with the words: “My Daddy was not murdered.”
Odhiambo noted in his ruling that while death often unites families, in this case it “tore them apart and marked the beginning of a legal drama.”
Dispute Far From Over
While the inquest has formally ended, the bitter feud continues. The sons want their father buried in the UK, while his widow and daughters insist he should be laid to rest in Kenya.
The court declined to decide on the final resting place, citing lack of clear laws governing burial disputes.
Inheritance proceedings are also still ongoing in a separate case.
For now, Veevers’ body remains in limbo — trapped between legal uncertainty and a family rift that shows no sign of healing.
