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Kenyan killers have robbed New Zealand engineer Phil Civil of all his fond memories of the country and left him with the haunting sound of his colleague being beaten to death in an nearby room.
Mr Civil, from Kerikeri, was visibly shaken when he arrived at Auckland Airport this afternoon - returning home from Nairobi where Julian Nathan, 76, was slain in their shared apartment at the weekend.
Mr Civil and Australian Ray Kensington were bound by coat-hangar wire, blind-folded and gagged in one room while Mr Nathan was killed in another.
The three engineers and project manager Sarah Nicholls, who was absent during the home invasion, were living in the guarded apartment complex while setting up an avocado oil processing plant for their company Olivado.
Mr Civil said the robbers, brandishing machetes, kept screaming "we want your money" and when the engineers said they had none, they were told to "lie down and go to sleep".
Among the items the robbers took was Mr Civil's laptop, containing all his photos and videos of his stay in Kenya.
Asked if he would go back there, he said: "I don't think so, no."
But Olivado director Joy Draper said the company at this stage planned to continue developing its Kenyan business.
Olivado chairman Gary Hannam, who flew from his Swiss base to Nairobi as soon as he heard of the murder, said the robbers "somehow" got in through the gate.
"They climbed up to the second floor balcony. They forced the doors open and they came into the apartment and they bound and gagged our engineers," he told Radio New Zealand.
"They then went into the other bedroom where Julian was and they bound him as well. Then the guys heard that Julian was being beaten and he died."
Ms Draper said from Auckland this afternoon that Kenyan police were investigating on Sunday (local time) and had told Mr Hannam, who is her partner, they would get back to him by Wednesday with any developments.
"We're hoping that we'll get Julian's body released as soon as possible," she told NZPA.
"We've got some really good people helping us there and here, and the (Kenyan) police are being very cooperative."
Ms Draper said the only reason she could think of for the apartment being targeted was that there was a "considerable amount" of cash on the premises.
"We've been setting up the plant and there's been a lot of payments to be made, and most of these are made in cash in Nairobi."
"So there have been constant withdrawals of cash. There was a safe in the apartment and we suspect that these intruders knew that there was money there, and computers and valuables."
Ms Draper said she did not know why Mr Nathan was specifically targeted for the beating which resulted in his death, but it was possible that he had seen the faces of his attackers.
His colleagues were asleep when the intruders broke in and were blindfolded without seeing them.
She said Olivado's managing director Chris Nathan, Julian's son, wanted to keep the Kenyan operation going.
"We believe that is what Julian would have wanted as well. This isn't going to make it any easier in Kenya but we hope to continue with the business.
"We need more avocados and Kenya is the place to get them from."
Mr Nathan was flying from his Brisbane base today to join family members in New Zealand.
Prime Minister Helen Clark this afternoon expressed her condolences and sympathies to the family of the slain man.
"It's a very shocking thing when something like this occurs far away and one's heart goes out to the family."
She said the Government was likely to have another look at the travel advice to anyone visiting Kenya.
"I imagine with respect to Nairobi it already covers dire warnings about the insecure nature of the capital," she said at her post-Cabinet press conference
The current advisory advises against all tourist and non-essential travel throughout Kenya.
"Violent crime including car-jacking, home invasion and armed robbery is increasing," the advisory says.
"These attacks can occur at any time and can be fatal."
- NZPA
