Shock as man surrenders to police with blood-stained machete after murdering his ex-wife
The suspect led a team of detectives to the crime scene and showed them the body of the victim.
What you need to know:
- The suspect led detectives to the body of the victim at the crime scene.
- Suspect is reported to have dismembered the woman’s body after killing her.
A 40-year-old man in Suba, Homa Bay County, has surrendered to the police after confessing to killing his ex-wife while fighting over child custody.
The man walked into Gingo Police Post on Wednesday afternoon and reported that he killed his former spouse in a domestic row.
The suspect was promptly placed under custody.
He later led a team of detectives to the crime scene in Muirendia Village in Kaksingri West Location and showed them the body of the victim.
Suba South sub-County Police Commander Caxstone Ndunda said the suspect showed up at the police post carrying a blood-stained machete.
"A team of officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) from Magunga were assigned to handle the case," he said.
Mr Ndunda said the suspect dismembered the woman’s body after killing her.
“Both her hands were chopped off with her head bearing deep cuts,” Mr Ndunda explained.
Before the murder, the man is said to have been working on his farm together with the three children he sired with the deceased.
The minors are said to have watched in horror as their father killed their mother.
The suspect and the deceased lived together as husband and wife before they separated more than three years ago.
The woman remarried in Kisegi in Gwassi North ward about 15 kilometres from her first home. The man had also remarried.
According to neighbours, the estranged couple had five children whose custody they were fighting over.
After going their separate ways, the woman took custody of two children leaving the rest with their father.
However, she kept on asking her estranged husband to let the three live with their siblings at her new home.
Mr Ndunda said the deceased reported the case to the children's services office in Magunga.
"They were fighting over child custody. The children services department had to get involved," the police boss said.
According to the police commander, one of the minors was once taken to a child rescue centre within Magunga as the parents squabbled.
At one time, the wrangling couple are reported to have been summoned by the Children's Department in an attempt to solve their differences.
However, Mr Ndunda said, it was only the deceased who showed up.
On the fateful day, an official from the Children's Department is said to have gone to the suspect's home but was met with hostility.
Mr Nduda said the government officer reported the matter to the police on Wednesday morning.
Neighbours said an official from the department and a police officer later in the day accompanied the deceased to the suspect's home to forcefully take the three children.
According to witnesses, the police officer was in civilian clothes and was unarmed.
On arrival, they found the suspect working on his farm together with the three children.
"The woman proceeded to talk to the suspect while the children's officer and the police watched from a distance," the witness said.
It was at that point that the man is said to have gone berserk and brutally attacked the deceased.
The body of the deceased was moved to Suba sub-County hospital mortuary in Sindo Town.
"It is unfortunate that the children will now live without their mother while their father is in custody. Fighting over children to the extent of murdering someone has a devastating effect on minors," Mr Ndunda said.
Meanwhile, concerned neighbours said the three children, who witnessed the murder, should be counselled.
