A quarrel between two brothers in Gitura village, Murang'a, about suitability of one of them sending away his wife and two children so as to marry another woman with six children ended tragically.
Wilfred Ndung'u, 41, a taxi driver, was opposed to his younger brother Peter Thuo's decision to change wives and bestow upon himself a bigger marital burden.
According to Kandara Deputy County Commissioner Peter Maina, the deceased operated a taxi business in Kenol town while the murder suspect worked as a casual labourer.
"Preliminary investigations indicate that Mr Ndung'u had retired home after work and was sleeping on a sofa hen he was attacked by his brother," he said.
According to Mr Maina, Thuo, who lived in an adjacent house, first enquired from Ndung'u's wife on the whereabouts of his brother.
"The deceased's wife, Nancy Wanjiru, who was in the kitchen outside the house warming food for her husband, did not suspect anything and told Mr Thuo that her husband was in the house," Maina told Nation.Africa.
"My brother-in-law has a habit of visiting my husband and I did not suspect that this last visit would turn tragic," Ms Wanjiru said in her statement to the police.
“Thuo, who was drunk, loved picking arguments. Recently, he had suggested he wanted to change wives, but my husband opposed the idea," the bereaved wife said.
According to village elder Stephen Mbuthia, the biggest point of departure was Thuo's wish to send his wife and two children away so as to marry a woman who was older than him.
"The issue had been reported to the elders but a date of arbitration was yet to be set," he said.
"Shortly after I let Thuo into the house to meet his brother, I heard him shouting," Wanjiru narrated.
According to Ms Wanjiru, she heard her brother-in-law saying "You believe you are the only man in this compound with a right to have a wife while opposed to me having one?.’"
"I took one look at him and realised that he had harmed my husband... I rushed into the house only to be met with the sight of my husband in a pool of blood from a deep wound on his forehead," she said.
"It is likely that my husband didn't see his brother entering the house and fatally attacking him since he was asleep on the sofa waiting for me to serve him food and later on warm his bathing water."
Ms Wanjiru said as she screamed for help, bizarrely her brother-in-law joined in, saying he was ready to be lynched.
Neighbours responded to her distress call with one of her husband's colleague offering to rush the injured Ndung'u to hospital.
However, Ndung'u was pronounced dead on arrival at Kenol Hospital and his body moved to General Kago Hospital mortuary.
According to Mr Maina, police officers from Kabati Police Station together with scene of crime officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), visited the scene.
At the scene, the officers recovered a blood-stained black hammer, which they suspect is what the assailant used as his murder weapon.
The suspect was arrested and is currently being held at Kabati Police Station awaiting to be arraigned.
"It is a sad case of rushed decision-making. The death was by all means unjustified. That poor decision has now rendered a woman a widow and her children fatherless,” Mr Maina said.
"The society should embrace the power of reason and avoid violence. We have too much grief occasioned by violent reactions to simple conflicts," he said.
