Chapter 1: What happened to the young British photojournalist in Kenya?
Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra. And today's episode is one that actually came out on the feed early last year. But since then, there's been some really compelling coverage by The Telegraph and an entire limited series podcast by Katherine Rushton for that publication. The episodes are available now on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
And as soon as those came out in November 2025, I was glued. The reporting is fantastic. You hear from the victims' surviving brothers and so many more people integral to the investigation. So if you want a refresher to get you up to speed, listen to my episode right now and then go get even more in-depth coverage and the absolute latest by checking out The Telegraph's podcast and reporting.
Something to note, this crime took place in Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya in 1988. According to Masai Mara Travel's website, the reserve borders Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, and it sits in the southwest part of Kenya. It's more than 370,000 acres in size and features some of the most unique wildlife in the world.
Zebras, wildebeests, rhinos, lions, giraffes, elephants, and other species roam freely in this stretch of Africa's savanna, which is why the area attracts so many people to go on safari there. The word Maasai in the reserve's name refers to the Maasai tribe that lived in the area long before British colonization took place at the turn of the 20th century.
The tribe was known for its semi-nomadic lifestyle, herding livestock, and bright red robes that male warriors don. Today, Masai is spelled the way British settlers spelled it, with two A's instead of three. But the proper way of spelling it is actually M-A-A-S-A-I. Back in the day when soldiers from Great Britain forced many tribe members off their native land, bloodshed ensued.
The hand weapons that Maasai warriors carried were outmatched by their invaders' firearms. And in the early 1900s, some members of the tribe signed agreements with white settlers to hand over two-thirds of their most fertile land. They were then relocated to less desirable parts of Kenya and Tanzania to live.
Despite this dark history, the tribe has still clung to its deeply rooted cultural traditions and practices. The people take pride in their land and all of the things that make it attractive to international tourists. Visitors to the reserve can visit the tribe's village and learn about their rich culture.
The word Mara in the reserve's name is the tribe's word for spotted or spotted land and refers to the patches of acacia trees and shrubbery that are scattered throughout it. And similar to that aspect of the landscape was the patchwork investigation into the death of a young British wildlife photographer in September 1988.
Information about what happened to Julie Ward while visiting Kenya seems to be dotted over the pages of time. Little lies and little truths just sprinkled between various sources. What I hope to do is wade through all of that, but come out the other side with something to hold on to. This is Park Predators.
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Chapter 2: What challenges did Julie Ward's father face in seeking justice?
When it was found, it was resting on a coin in the sun. That position was one way to build up a charge, a fact that seemingly its owner would have known.
And because Scotland Yard determined that none of the rangers owned an Olympus camera or knew how to charge a battery like that, it almost seemed as if Julie had left it at the outpost herself, perhaps with the intention of coming back to get it. However, there was other evidence that suggested the battery may have belonged to a wristwatch, which some of the rangers who lived at the outpost wore.
So in the end, the battery being there wasn't necessarily a smoking gun clue. In February 1991, Kenya's attorney general made his decision about how to move forward, and he ultimately charged both of the park rangers with Julie's murder. But roughly another year passed before their trial finally got underway in February 1992.
Sam Kiley reported for The Times that the two defendants hired the same defense attorney who wanted to focus just as much on the Kenyan government's cover-up of the crime as he did on the innocence of his clients.
An interesting bit of information that wasn't directly related to the trial, but certainly couldn't be ignored, was that just a few months after Julie was killed, Kenya's sitting foreign minister had also died under suspicious circumstances. Apparently, that guy was found dead two kilometers from his house, shot in the head at an awkward angle, sporting a broken leg, and burned with accelerant.
From reading the source material, it's pretty clear that his untimely death only increased some people's suspicion that the government was trying to cover up or silence people who may have known important information about what really happened to Julie. A lot of the defendant's trial went the same way as the inquest a few years earlier.
John Ward testified, and so did the original witnesses from Sand River Camp. One big difference, though, was that the judge overseeing the trial had everyone involved travel out to the reserve to tour the important locations of the crime. That experience was incredibly emotional for Jan Ward, Julie's mother, who traveled from England to attend the trial.
She and John were allowed to grieve in private after the tour ended for the day and the defendants were escorted out of the area. Not long after that, the murder trial abruptly paused so that another case could go before the court. It was scheduled to resume at a later date, and I guess this is just something that happens within the Kenya court system.
I'm not familiar with a situation like this happening, but regardless, John Ward was once again unhappy with the way Kenya's court system chose to operate. He told The Guardian, quote, "'It is really quite disgraceful. This trial has assumed second league importance.'" It's really quite pathetic. They've adjourned it for every reason under the sun, end quote.
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