Trial for Kenyan-German Popstar Murdered in Berlin Begins

Left: The deceased, Jim Reeves Nyasani. Right: the two defendants, Adam K. and Pawel A. in court last week in Moabit, Berlin

The trial for the Kenyan-German pop star, Jim Reeves has finally started close to two years after he was murdered at a Berlin hostel. 

Last week Wednesday saw two Polish defendants, aged 23 and 30, go on trial for Jim Reeves brutal murder in a Berlin hostel in February 2016. The two men chose to maintain their silence during the first day of the trial. However, narrations of what the police believed happened that night moved the court audience to tears.

It is believed that Jim Reeves checked into the “Happy Go Lucky” hostel in Charlottenburg in Berlin two or three days before his death and got a bed in the six-bed room. It was there that he met the two men, Adam K. and Pawel A. on 30th January 2016. The three men went out for some drinks and came back to the hostel.

What changed the cordial trio leading to Reeves’ murder is unclear. However, the prosecutor believes that Reeves must have made sexual advances on the men, leading to the fight that ensued. The two defendants reportedly told police investigators after their arrests that they had felt insulted by Reeves, who they claimed had attempted to chat them up.

(READ: Kenyan-German Pop Star Found Dead in Berlin Hostel)

The prosecutor accuses the men of having premeditated their actions before they returned to the hostel from the bar they had visited for drinks. The two men allegedly overpowered Reeves. As one held him down, with his arm twisted to his back, the other took a chair with which they continuously hit Reeves face. Once the chair broke, the man allegedly took the broken piece and brutally rammed it through Reeves’ anus. This bestial act resulted in tearing of his bladder, liver, spleen and intestines, as well as fifteen rib fractures, the prosecutor told the court. It’s believed Reeves was conscious through the whole attack and eventually lost his life due to his internal injuries.

A postmortem showed that Reeves had been horrifically tortured before his death. His attackers had raped him using a large object and the assault was so violent that he died due to internal bleeding.

Reeves’ body was found lifeless in the room in the morning of 1st February 2016, by a tourist who checked into the hotel that morning.

(READ: Kenyan Scholar Who Broke 300year Old Record in Germany Laid to Rest)

The two Polish construction workers were passing through Berlin on that fateful night. The first one, Adam K. was arrested in Poland a few weeks after the tragic event but had to serve time for a different crime in Poland before he was extradited to Germany. The search for Pawel A. took longer and it was not until February 2017 that he was arrested in Spain when he attempted to flee with €7000 and other stolen merchandise.

Born in 1968 in Köln as Jim Nyasani, he found his big break during a casting show run by the clothing retailer, C&A in 1984. He moved on to model for Mövenpick, Swatch, Sony and Schuller, before deciding to go back to school. He did an Ausbildung in Hamburg. During which he and his siblings formed the 4Reeves music band.

The 4 Reeves band. (l. to r.) Andrew, Terry, Shary and Jim Reeves.                          Source: 4 Reeves Facebook Fan Page

In 1995, he became the front man of the eurodance band Squeezer, which hit the peak of its popularity in the late 1990s. They sold over a million records worldwide, with their biggest hit Sweet Kisses hitting the top of the singles charts in Spain in 1996.

Jim was a famous model, pop star and tv personality in Germany. He was 47 years old at the time of his death and despite his successful earlier career, he was living on welfare at the time of his death. He was currently trying to make a come back having modelled at the Berlin Fashion Week earlier this year.

His death came as such a surprise and was only four days before his father’s, Prof. Joseph Nyasani, passing on at the Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi.

(READ: German Celebrity Reveals Relations to Famous Kenyan Newscaster)

Jim was a brother to renowned Kenyan news anchor Tichi Nyasani and Kenyan-German presenter, Shary Reeves of the famous kids show, “Wissen Macht Ah!”.

The trial is expected have 10 proceedings with the ruling expected on 27th October. The two men face life imprisonment.

Share with friends: