Wealth, infidelity linked to murder plots among spouses

In September 2013, Faith Wairimu Maina shot to notoriety after her plot to kill her husband was unveiled.

The court drama that followed held the country in its grip for weeks, culminating in an ending that could be the envy of any self-respecting Soap Opera.

Mrs Maina’s husband, Mr John Muthee stood before the court and asked that all charges against her be dropped, as he had since forgiven her.

It was an ending that no one could have anticipated, least of all Mrs Maina’s lawyer, who had studiously defended her over the course of her case.

“I must admit that I was surprised when Muthee said that he had forgiven Faith and wanted to reconcile with her. I did not see that coming,” said the defence lawyer, Mr John Swaka.

Mr Swaka says that he has handled at least three cases where wives have plotted to murder their husbands.

“In my experience, most men tend to walk away from the marriage if they are unhappy, and often take up with other women. Wives are the ones who often plot murder,” he said.

(Read: Woman charged over plot to kill husband)

In the case of Mrs Maina, Swaka paints the picture of a desperately unhappy woman who had come to the end of her wits, driven up the wall by her husband’s blatant neglect and the fact that he had taken up with a lover.

“She felt that her husband had completely neglected her and the children and she felt that the only way she could make him pay for his deeds was to kill him. She was desperate for a solution, any solution, to what she felt was unjust treatment by her husband,” said Mr Swaka.

Although the couple declined to speak to the Nation, Mr Swaka said they have since reconciled and are living in marital bliss after putting the dramatic events of 2013 behind them.

MONEY MINDED
While in Maina’s case the motivation for planning to kill her husband was his infidelity, murders have been plotted against spouses over property rights.

In November last year, a woman in Mombasa was arrested for plotting to kill her husband over wealth.

Mrs Rose Adhiambo enlisted the help of her househelp, Doris Akinyi, to plot how they would off Polycarp Okumu over property worth millions of shillings.

More recently, Mrs Monica Kalondu Wambui was charged in court for plotting to kill her husband after they disagreed on how to divide their marital property.

Many experts have weighed in on the numerous reasons why spouses would rise against each other in such a violent way.

Counselling psychologist John Gacheru thinks that cases of lovers’ conflicts are usually caused by Othello’s Syndrome, a condition where a spouse is overly possessive and their thinking goes, “If I cannot have you, then no one else will”.

This condition is named after Othello, a Shakespearean character who murders his wife in a jealous rage because he is convinced that she is cheating on him.

He added that the issue should not be confused with domestic violence, where often physically dominant husbands abuse their wives.

The good news is that the condition is treatable and can be managed before its sufferers commit any crimes.

“People who struggle with Othello’s syndrome often have a fear of abandonment. If that is treated through psychological care, then it can stop criminal behaviour from occurring,” said Gacheru.

(Read: Woman, kin arrested for plot to kill husband)

NOT THINKING THROUGH

While he agrees with Mr Gacheru on some level, Mr Mbutu Kariuki, a psychologist who has practised for more than a decade, says that the role of money as a catalyst for murderous rage should not be discounted.

“We live in a society where the man is usually more economically empowered that the woman and sometimes you will find that marital property is all registered under the man’s name. This sort of inequality may drive the woman to committing murder, because she feels disenfranchised and that her role in the marriage is not appreciated,” said Kariuki.

He added that disjointed relationships are on the rise because people often do not interrogate their reasons for marrying and some have no idea at all how to make their marriages work.

“One of the biggest causes of stress for people is relationships. Many marriages in this town are hanging by a thread, as people are just tolerating each other for the sake of their children or for societal respectability,” he said.

Mr Mbutu, however, added that marriage is as noble institution as ever and that the number of happy couples far outweigh those whose murderous instincts have been awakened by dysfunctional pairings.