Kericho man accused of stabbing wife, driving her body to local bar

A domestic dispute between a couple in Kericho turned tragic when a man allegedly stabbed his wife to death.

Police say, the incident took place at James Finlays Tea Company's Workshop estate on the outskirts of Kericho town.

Reports indicate that under the pretext of taking her to hospital for medical attention, the suspect placed the wife in the passenger seat of his vehicle and drove to a bar about 10 kilometres away.

According to preliminary reports, he parked the car on the side of the road and ordered a round of drinks at a local pub.

Suspicious boda boda riders confronted the man, who was covered in blood and appeared dazed as he ordered drinks at a local pub. They alerted the police.

When police responded to the information from the public, they found the man in the driver's seat and when he got out, officers found the unconscious woman in the car. 

"It was reported by a member of the public that a motor vehicle KDB 891J Daihatsu Mira of dark blue colour was seen on the side of the road along Kericho-Kapsoit near Highland Sacco with an injured female adult lying on the passenger seat," the police report said.

The suspect admitted that they had argued inside the Finlays Tea Company building, resulting in her sustaining serious injuries.

The man works as a technician at the company, but it was not clear at press time what his wife does for a living.

“The victim was pronounced dead on arrival at Kericho County Referral Hospital and was taken to the morgue at the facility,” Belgut Police Commander Charles Kibati said.

Mr Kibati said the suspect was taken into custody with investigations having been launched into the cause of the fight that led to the murder.

The suspect's vehicle was impounded by police.

Independent preliminary investigations show that the couple has been fighting for several months over undisclosed reasons.

“When the man drove through the security barrier at night, he told the security officers that he was taking his injured wife to hospital for treatment. It was a matter of public knowledge that they have been fighting over time,” a security officer said.

Witnesses also said following an earlier altercation, the woman armed with a kitchen knife attacked her husband when he arrived home intoxicated, but the man overpowered and stabbed her repeatedly as their young children watched.

Realising that he had inflicted serious injuries on her, he dragged the woman to the car and drove out of the estate.

But he did not take her to the hospital after realising on the way that she was dead. He drove through Kericho town, to Kapsoit on the Kisumu-Kericho highway, where he parked the car and entered a local pub.

Boda boda operators who realised his hands and clothes had blood stains, confronted him and he claimed he had an accident where he was injured.

But upon inspection, they realised that the car did not have any dents, and that instead, there was a woman in the car who appeared to be bleeding and was unconscious.

It was then that they called in the police and prevented the man from driving off, having frog matched him from a local pub.