Murang'a man suspected of beheading his father over Sh100 alcohol dispute

Police in Murang'a County on Saturday arrested a 29-year-old man suspected of beheading his 52-year-old father on Friday night over an alcohol dispute.

Peter Mwangi Kamau, who lived alone in his mud house in Kahethu village in Kigumo Constituency, was found dead outside his home at around 9am.

His son lived in the same compound but in a separate house.

Police said the son was seen with his father and another 28-year-old male neighbour in a local bar arguing over who should pay for a Sh100 drink.

"Since the two youths were the last to be seen with the man, arguing and then he was found decapitated on Saturday morning, they automatically become persons of interest in the murder," said Kigumo Sub County Police boss Thomas Mong'are.

He added that "preliminary investigations from mobile phone logs indicate that the three have a relationship in the possible murder".

Mong'are added that "the two in custody have given information that is helpful in the investigation".

Mong'are told Nation.Africa that "the two were picked up by detectives at the height of the investigation into the murder, although even after a thorough search of the area around the scene of the crime, the weapon used to carry out the beheading could not be found".

Mong'are said that "a woman passing through the deceased's compound on her way to the river saw the body lying a few metres from the door of his house and raised the alarm".

He added that "the villagers informed the district administration, which in turn informed the police and we sent two teams - general duty officers and detectives - to deal with it".

He said the primary investigation had classified the incident as a crime of murder.

Mong'are added that crime scene officers processed the spot where the body was found and collected necessary samples to help solve the case.

 "We have since taken the body to the Murang'a County mortuary for preservation and autopsy. We will then corroborate the autopsy findings with the results of the ground investigations and establish a case," he said.

This came as the Murang'a senator condemned the escalating cases of murder in the county.

"It is now becoming our trademark to be in the news for senseless killings. While we will continue to challenge our police officers to step up their policing game to curb these cases, we as a society must also learn to accept that we must play our part in helping the officers to smoke out the criminals in our midst," said Nyutu.

He added that "for the past three months, we have been receiving news of murders in this county on a daily basis and this is not a good development".