German tourist who booked hotel room with Kenyan girlfriend found dead with cuts in head

By Salma Mlamba and Brian Okoth

Police are looking for a youthful woman suspected of killing her 78-year-old German lover in a hotel room in Malindi, Kilifi County on Monday night.

The deceased has been identified as Detering Herman, a tourist of passport number C3K6FV281.

Herman booked himself into a room at Moriema Cottages in Malindi in the company of his alleged girlfriend identified only as Mary, a Kenyan citizen, on Monday night.

Kelly Kazungu, a receptionist at the accommodation facility, told police that he grew suspicious when Herman failed to wake up the whole day.

At 7:30pm Tuesday, Kazungu went to Herman’s room — 177 — and peeped through the window and saw Herman lying on a bed, whose sheets were stained with blood.

Kazungu said upon opening the door to Herman’s room, he found him dead with cuts and scratch marks in the face, back and neck. It is suspected that Mary strangled Herman after getting into a fight with him.

The scratch marks, authorities suspect, were inflicted by Mary using her nails.

Police were called to the scene and took Herman’s body to Malindi Sub-County Hospital morgue, where an autopsy is set to be conducted to ascertain Herman’s cause of death.