Police holding man suspected of killing and burying wife secretly

Detectives carrying the body of a 30 year old woman after exhuming it from a grave at her husband's home in Emusasa village, Nandi South where he is suspected to have buried her two months ago.

Photo credit: Tom Matoke | Nation Media Group

Police in Nandi are holding a man suspected of killing his wife and burying her in a secret grave at their home in a case of domestic violence.

A preliminary police report suggests the body may have been buried for at least two months before it was discovered. It is the suspect who led detectives to a grave where he allegedly confessed to have secretly buried the woman.

According to the Nandi County Commissioner Mr Herman Shambi, the suspect is in custody and will be charged in court after investigations are concluded.

"We are still holding the suspect as homicide detectives continue with the investigations for another two weeks. The remains have been kept at Kapsabet mortuary pending a post-mortem to establish how the deceased lost her life and if the suspect is responsible for the death," he stated.

Police officers exhumed the body of the 30-year-old woman from the man's home and moved it to the Kapsabet County Hospital mortuary as detectives from the homicide section took over investigations.

On Friday, Nandi South residents were thrown in a rude shock after the woman’s body was exhumed from a secret grave at Mr Naftali Avendi’s Emusasa village in an operation conducted by police and homicide detectives.

The man allegedly confessed to killing and burying his wife two months ago and led the investigative team to his deserted home, which was immediately marked as a scene of crime.

The deserted home of Naftali Avendi where detectives exhumed the body of a woman from secret grave.

Photo credit: Tom Matoke | Nation Media Group

About 150 meters from the isolated two houses that locals claim the two lovebirds- Mr Avendi and his wife Venda had been living for years, detectives discovered a shallow grave on the farm.

They exhumed the body of Venda, who mysteriously disappeared in early April 2022.

The discovery of the grave led to the arrest of her husband, who has been helping in investigations on the woman's disappearance.

Two months later, according to Nandi South Police Commander John Owuoth, Naftali confessed to burying his wife’s body on his farm.

"The two were living together but neighbors had no details about the family's social life. We are yet to know the circumstances surrounding the death of the woman and the exact time when the suspect executed the heinous act," Mr Owuoth said.

The decomposing body was exhumed from the depth of the two-foot grave, wrapped in clothes only.

According to the preliminary police report, the body had been buried for over two months.

A neighbor, Peter Kavunira claimed that the deceased was last spotted in the village in early April and had a problem with one of her legs.

"She had a wound on her leg and she struggled to walk. But no one knew the private life of the couple since they rarely interacted with people, until we learned recently that the man killed and buried her secretly," he stated.

Police had a hard time trying to trace the whereabouts of the missing woman since her husband claimed they had no relatives that could help with the search.

Mr Owuoth said that the deceased’ relatives from Kakamega were eventually traced and helped in the investigations, leading to the arrest of Naftali, now the key suspect after he revealed where he had buried his wife’s remains.

Mr Owuoth has appealed to members of the public to record statements with the police to help with the investigations. 

Mr Shambi on the other hand expressed concern that cases of gender based violence are increasing in Nandi county, with women bearing the brunt. He urged men not to follow the trend, urging couples to find amicable solutions to their differences.