Published on August 29, 2007, 12:00 am in the Standard, Kenya
By Lucianne Limo
A man wanted in connection with the murder of Mill Hill priest, Fr John Anthony Kaiser, says he is innocent.
Mr Francis Kiisikirr Kantai, who lives in the United States, says he should not be linked to the death of the Catholic priest.
"Although I welcome investigations, I feel like I am being sacrificed, abandoned and betrayed by my country and church," he said.
Kantai, 36, is married to Kaiser’s cousin, Camille, and worked with the priest as a catechist in Lolgorian Parish.
Speaking to The Standard by telephone from Nebraska, Kantai said people summoned to testify at the inquest in Nairobi and Naivasha were selected to implicate him.
He added that he was not afraid to come to Kenya to clear his name.
"Why would I kill the priest? I had a very good relationship with him. He was my friend, my mentor and pastor, and for the last few months before his death, I was like a son to him," Kantai said.
Court held that Kaiser was murdered
The priest was found dead on August 23, 2000 at Morendat junction off the Naivasha-Nakuru highway.
At the time, he was in charge of Lolgorian Parish of Ngong Diocese.
After the inquest, the court trashed evidence advanced by America’s Federal Bureau of Investigations that the priest had committed suicide.
It held that Kaiser was murdered. Nairobi Chief Magistrate, Mrs Maureen Odero, recommended that four people, among them Kantai, be investigated.
Consequently, the Attorney-General directed the Police Commissioner to open fresh a probe into the death.