Fresh details shows that the man who on October 2, 2022, set a timber house in Ngimari village, Runyenjes in Embu county ablaze, killing seven members of the same family, mistakenly identified his target homestead.
The individuals who were killed were then 50-year-old Charles Kariuki, his wife Catherine Wanjiru aged 46, their three children Joel Njeru, Judy Wanjiku, Maryanne Murugi and two grandchildren. Maryanne was preparing to sit the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination the following month.
The suspect was arrested on Friday, January 6, by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives from his hideout in Navakholo, Kakamega county.
According to The Nation, the suspect was targeting his estranged wife. Police Detectives said the suspect had disagreed with his wife who consequently fled her matrimonial home in Kakamega and got married to another man in the aforementioned Embu village.
After discovering that his then-wife had remarried, the suspect allegedly sent her a text message threatening to set her new family home on fire.
His further action led him to mistakenly setting a neighbour’s house on fire, killing the seven family members.
Embu East Sub-county Police Commander Emmanuel Okanda said the suspect who is currently in custody, will be arraigned to face murder charges, and that a serious punitive expendition will be subjected to the suspected criminal.
