Man kills wife as children watch, then surrenders to police
Residents Iravari village, Embu County at the home of a man who hacked his wife to death and surrendered himself to the police.
What you need to know:
- The assailant also seriously injured his farm worker who is now fighting for his life in hospital.
- After killing his wife, the suspect surrendered himself to Kiritiri Police Station where he is being held.
What started as a small domestic quarrel ended tragically when a man hacked his wife to death at Iravari village in Embu county.
Gladys Thara, 24, succumbed to injuries on the spot after she was repeatedly struck with a machete as her two children aged nine and five years watched in shock.
The assailant also seriously injured his farm worker who is now fighting for his life in hospital.
The incident happened just two days after a police officer shot dead a man in a bar near Runyenjes town.
After killing his wife, the suspect surrendered himself to Kiritiri Police Station where he is being held.
The events of Tuesday morning has left the family, friends, neighbours and residents in shock.
Neighbours said they heard the suspect quarreling with his wife in the wee hours of Tuesday over unknown reasons.
They then heard screams and when they rushed to the scene, they found the woman lying in a pool of blood and the farmhand badly wounded.
"When we heard that Thara had been fatally attacked, at first we didn't believe it," said Mr Stephen Nyaga, the brother-in-law of the deceased.
The family said the suspect lived happily with his family until recently when he started behaving as if he had mental problems.
"My brother was a peaceful man but recently he started exhibiting funny behaviour; he was even started committing petty crimes and this worried us so much," said Mr Nyaga.
Nyaga said the matter was reported to the local administration but it was not taken seriously.
Neighbours described the suspect as a hard working person who suddenly changed and started idling around.
"He was doing well with his Muguka business. But in the last few days, he started behaving strangely by staying at home doing nothing," Mr Njeru Magara, a neigbour, said.
Mr Magara said the fatal attack took everyone by surprise.
"We were woken up by screams. We rushed to the scene and we saw the suspect chasing his farm worker while wielding a machete. His wife lay dead within the home compound," said Mr Magara.
"By the time we arrived at the scene, the suspect had killed his wife and was baying for the blood of his farmhand," said Mr Magara.
The neighbours said the incident is the worst in recent times in the area, adding that they never expected such a crime to be committed in the area.
Embu County Police Commander Samuel Muthamia said the suspect the man is mentally unstable.
"Information that we have gathered from the residents is that the suspect had prior to the incident been behaving as if he was of unsound mind," he said.
However, he said the matter was being treated as murder and that the suspect will face a capital charge once investigations are complete.
"When the suspect surrendered himself to the police, he confessed that he had killed his wife and injured his worker," said Mr Muthamia.
