Acquittal in Kenyan killing

A Kenyan judge acquitted four men accused of killing a British wildlife filmmaker and naturalist in her home, ruling Friday that the investigation was “poorly done.”

Joan Root, 69, was shot in her bed in January 2006 by two intruders who broke her bedroom window and fired an AK-47 assault rifle at close range, police said. The motive apparently was robbery.

Magistrate Nicholas Njagi, who presided over the trial in Navivsha, Kenya, ordered the men released after more than a year in custody and denounced the investigation.

Root collaborated with her former husband, Alan Root, in making several popular films about African wildlife, including “Balloon Safari” and “Two in the Bush.”