American Dies on Daily Visit to Kenya Police

An American missionary detained on security charges died today at the headquarters of Kenya’s Criminal Investigation Department, security sources said.

Lyle Marvin Hutson, working with the evangelical group Associated Christian Churches of Kenya, collapsed in the waiting room while making his daily visit to the department, they said.

He and another American missionary, Richard Scott Hamilton, were detained in the northwestern town of Kitale on Friday and released in Nairobi on Sunday on condition that they report to the police every morning, they added.

The U.S. Embassy here confirmed the death of an American but declined to give details.

The two U.S. citizens and a third person of unknown nationality were accused of violating Kenya’s security by illegally importing powerful radio transmitters and walkie-talkies.

Their arrests had not previously been reported, but discovery of the radio equipment has been a major story in the Kenyan press.

President Daniel Arap Moi, in a speech in the western town of Siaya on Tuesday, said the government took a very serious view of the case and would in the future be extra vigilant to prevent such consignments entering the country.

The security sources said Hutson apparently died of a heart attack when he saw the prominent coverage of Moi’s speech in the Kenyan press, which did not mention the arrest of the Americans.