A FATHER'S 16-year campaign to solve the mystery surrounding his daughter's murder took an unexpected turn yesterday when rumours surfaced that the son of a former African president was involved.
Julie Ward, 28, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was killed while travelling in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya in 1988.
Her body was cut up then burned in a thicket ten miles from where she was camping.
A former British Consular official in the Kenyan capital Nairobi told the inquest in Ipswich, Suffolk, there were suggestions that the son of then Kenyan President Daniel Moi was implicated in Miss Ward's death.
The inquest heard that Miss Ward's father, John, was one of the first people to attend the scene of the crime and sifted through the ashes of the fire where his daughter had been burned in order to preserve her remains, the inquest heard.
He then discovered that a post-mortem report on his daughter's remains had been altered to give the impression she had been attacked by wild animals rather than murdered.
The inquest went into private session for about 30 minutes after a lawyer representing the British Security and Intelligence Services said he wanted to raise issues which could touch on national security.
A former agent with the Security and Intelligence Services is due to give evidence to the hearing tomorrow.
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