Police in Nyeri are holding a 30-year-old man in connection with the deaths of his wife and two children.
Peter Kariuki Njaramba, a resident of Kagayu estate, Thunguma location, Nyeri Central, was picked up by detectives on Monday after the three lifeless bodies of his entire family were found inside their one-bedroomed rented house in Kagayu on Sunday morning with their throats slit open.
The bodies of the children, Wilfred Njaramba Kariuki (six years) and Joyline Njeri (two and a half years old), were found lying on seat cushions in the living room soaked in blood, while the mother, identified as Mary Nafula, aged 31 years, was found hanging on the roof in the bedroom with a rope tied around her neck. She bore stab wounds on her throat and on the chest.
Preliminary reports by Police have also unearthed that the husband had told investigators he was not around in the house at the time of the incident, as he had spent the night elsewhere.
But according to an officer who requested anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the investigations, detectives are currently treating Njaramba as the first suspect in the killings that have shocked the residents of the area.
The officer said preliminary analysis of the scene of the crime showed there was commotion in the house before the killings took place, an indicator that the victims must have fought off their assailant in an attempt to save their lives.
Police also discovered that Nafula was first murdered by slitting her throat and then propped up on a double-decker bed in the bedroom and a rope was put around her neck to conceal the fact that she had been murdered.
“When we visited the scene of the crime, we found the door wide open and the two children lying dead in a pool of blood on the cushion seats in the living room.
Both had their necks slit open and multiple stab wounds on their bodies. The room was also in a mess with clothes, furniture, utensils and food items scattered everywhere, an indication of a vicious struggle between the assailant and the victims before the killings. When we proceeded to the bedroom, we found the wife hanging on one of the woodwork pieces of the double-decker bed with a cloth belt tied around her neck. Her neck had also been slit open, which rules out any suicide theory,” said the officer.
Nyeri Deputy County Commissioner Maina Ngunyi says the case is now in the hands of officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and a comprehensive report will be released once the team is done with the investigations.
Ngunyi has also disclosed that the investigators are currently treating Njaramba as the main suspect in the grisly murders, as he was the last person known to have been with the family.
“While it’s too early to make a conclusive ruling on this matter, all indicators point to the likelihood of a family feud. The suspect is currently being held at the Ruring’u Police Station as the main suspect and is helping officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations with information in regard to the murders.
We are therefore waiting for the outcome of these investigations before we can move ahead and arraign the suspects before the court,” stated Ngunyi.
The bodies of the victims are currently lying at the Nyeri County Teaching and Referral Hospital awaiting postmortem analysis.
By Samuel Maina and Wangari Mwangi
