A Kenyan man charged in court in connection with a deadly attack on a British couple told officials that a gang abducted him at gunpoint and forced him to be their guide.
David Tebbutt, 58, was killed in the attack earlier this month. His wife Judith was kidnapped and remains missing.
She has been taken to the Somali town of Amara, north of the pirate base of Haradhere, two men who said they were pirates told The Associated Press.
Bile Hussein and Hassan Abdi said they have friends among the gang that is holding the 56-year-old, who wears a hearing aid.
The couple were attacked on the first night they stayed at the exclusive Kiwayu Safari Village hotel, which is about 30 miles from the Somali border. The resort, popular with celebrities, consists of 18 cottages dotted along a white sand beach fringed with palms.
At least six gunmen burst into their room and shot David before dragging Judith down the beach and forcing her into a speedboat, police said.
Kololo, who used to work at the hotel, is charged with kidnapping and robbery with violence.
He told the packed courtroom on Lamu island that the gang of gunmen had held him at gunpoint and forced him to guide them around the hotel. He voluntarily went to police the next day to report the crime, he said.
Fourteen witnesses are due to give evidence. A second man, Issa Sheck Saadi, is expected to appear in court at a later date.
Lamu Senior Resident Magistrate Angelo Githinji ordered Kololo to be remanded in custody until October 25.
