Four assailants breached the PCEA Tabuga Parish compound, using a captured security guard to trick Reverend Julius Ndumia into opening his door by posing as police officers conducting a search.
An ongoing investigation has revealed chilling details of the attack on Reverend Julius Ndumia of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) Tabuga Parish in Lanet, Nakuru County, by four thugs disguised as police officers on May 3, 2026.
Two of the suspects have been arrested by the police and remanded in custody for 21 days pending arraignment, while the other two are said to be on the run.
The funeral service for the murdered Nakuru cleric, Reverend Julius Ndumia, was held on May 11, 2026. It was held at St Gregory Mathakwaini Comprehensive School in Tetu.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have pieced together the final moments of the clergyman, who was resting in his official residence within the church compound, unaware of the lurking danger as his attackers plotted a forced entry that would later cost him his life.
A detective familiar with the ongoing investigation revealed to the Nation that, on the night of the attack, the four assailants broke into the compound armed with crude weapons before carrying out their mission under the cover of darkness.
Read: From fuel attendants to herdsmen: Witnesses, whisperers and suspects in deaths of prominent Kenyans
Detectives have obtained CCTV footage from the church compound which places the suspects in custody at the scene of the crime on the night in question.
Portrait of Presbyterian Church of East Africa, Tabuga Church in Bahati, Nakuru County pastor Rev Julius Ndumia who was found murdered in his house within the church's compound on May 4, 2026.
To gain entry to the compound, the four attackers first targeted the security guard on duty, Bernard Nyamwaka, holding him hostage and torturing him for over 20 minutes before forcing him to lead them to the clergyman's official residence.
The gang frogmarched the injured guard to the cleric’s house, some 200 metres from the main gate. There, they posed as police officers conducting an operation in the area in order to gain the clergyman's confidence.
“The gang of four pretended to be police officers who wanted to search the pastor’s house. When he heard that they were officers, he just let them in without asking many questions, unaware that they would kill him shortly afterwards,” said a detective involved in the investigation.
Residents of Tabuga in Lanet, Bahati, Nakuru County, were perturbed at the scene where the pastor of Tabuga PCEA Church, Rev Julius Ndumia, was found murdered on May 4, 2026.
He revealed, "Once inside the house, the attackers launched a violent assault on Reverend Ndumia and the night guard. They ransacked the house for several hours before fleeing with valuables, without an alarm having been raised."
The attackers first tied the hands and legs of their two victims, placing them metres apart in the living room. There, they tortured the victims and inflicted serious injuries.
Reverend Ndumia was found dead in the house, while Mr Nyamwaka, who had been guarding him, fought for his life all night before an Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teacher made the shocking discovery while reporting for duty the following morning.
Reverend Ndumia had sustained deep cuts to the back of his head and neck, and his body was found in a pool of blood in the living room. The security guard was taken to Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital, where he was treated and later discharged. He was also given witness protection by the police while the investigation continued.
The motive for the attack and murder remains unclear. At the time of the attack, Reverend Ndumia, who was described as a lovable man, lived alone in the house on the church compound.
Felix Okumu and Beryl Nafula appeared at Nakuru Law Courts on May 11, 2026, where they were charged in connection with the murder of Rev Julius Ndumia of the Tabuga PCEA Church.
Two suspects, Beryl Nafula Otenyo and Felix Odinga Okumu, who were arrested at the weekend, appeared before Senior Magistrate Okullo Amelea Awino on Monday. However, plea taking was deferred, with the DCI successfully seeking orders to detain the suspects for 21 days to allow the investigation to be completed.
In a sworn affidavit, the investigating officer, Inspector Geoffrey Tegei, informed the court that Nafula and Odinga had been arrested on 8 May 2026 and requested that they be granted an additional 30 days.
He said that during this period, they intended to collect DNA samples from the suspects for comparison with the exhibits recovered from the crime scene and forwarded to government chemists for DNA analysis.
Read: Bullets, stabbings and mystery suicides: Long history of brutal deaths of Catholic priests in Kenya
Bahati MP Irene Njoki signs condolence book besides the portrait of the late PCEA Tabuga pastor, Reverend Julius Ndumia at the PCEA Tabuga on May 6, 2026. She called for thorough and speedy investigations into the murder.
According to Inspector Tegei, the two suspects were found in possession of the cleric's mobile phone and SIM cards during the arrest. They need time to forward these items to the National Forensic Laboratory for analysis.
Detectives are also investigating suspected fraudulent financial transactions carried out via the clergyman's mobile phone after the attack.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
