Gospel musician Papa Dennis may have been suffering from depression due to financial problems, a relative, friend and caretaker have said.

Neighbours and the caretaker of the house where he lived told the Star the “Nashukuru’ hitmaker moved into the studio - where he was found dead on Saturday - on Thursday night with a mattress and blanket.

“His former landlord had locked him out of his Jamhuri estate house and the couple, who had housed him briefly, was violent to him. That is when Mjukuu, the owner of the studio at Kirima House on Thika road, asked him to stay in the studio to rehabilitate him,” a close relative told the Star.

Papa Dennis was reported to be having issues with his girlfriend of two years who acts in a local television series.

“On Friday at 11am Papa Dennis called Mjukuu and told him that people were fighting in the house that hosts the studio,” the caretaker told the Star.

“The owner of the studio called me and when I knocked at his door to find out what was happening, Papa opened the door himself.”

The caretaker said he picked his phone and left on a motorbike heading towards the Muthaiga side of Thika Road.

Papa Dennis returned later and was joined by his twin brother Simon Mwangi and a producer for a music recording session at the same studio.

“He had called his brother to bring him his passport. We are not sure where he wanted to go,” a friend told the Star.

“He then picked his phone and a charger in the middle of the session and left, telling his brother and the producer that they were giving him a hard time.”

The caretaker on Friday night was informed by the tenants on the left side of the building (Thika roadside) that someone had jumped from the fourth floor.

“I informed the brother, studio owner and manager that one of their friends had jumped from the fourth floor,” the caretaker told the Star.

"We are not even sure how he accessed the extreme side of the building since all the gates were closed. The other option would be going through someone's house or using the roof, which is very hard," the caretaker said.

The Star/ IMENDE BENJAMIN