Police: Suspect who killed his wife in Nyeri could be dead
A police tape at a crime scene.
Police in Mathira, Nyeri County, now say they are “doubtful” that the man suspected to have killed his wife is still alive after his phone went mute.
Last Friday, Stephen Muriithi allegedly stabbed his wife Lydia Nyaguthii, a senior nurse at Tumutumu PCEA Hospital, to death in an incident that shocked the nation.
She was found lying in a pool of blood outside their matrimonial home by rescuers who answered a distress call. While a post-mortem will be conducted today, relatives have now revealed she had about 12 visible knife wounds on her body.
The suspect reportedly went on the run immediately after the gruesome discovery, with police saying his phone’s last signal was traced to Kagumo, Kirinyaga County, on Monday evening.
Mathira West sub-county Police Commander Michael Ndegwa said on Wednesday the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had taken over the suspected homicide case but they had not made any headway in apprehending the suspect, and expressed doubts that he was alive.
“We are still looking for him but since Monday we have not made much progress. My officers are still on the ground but we doubt whether he can commit such a crime and still be found alive,” Mr Ndegwa said.
“This is a person who had not committed such a crime before and if he happened to have thrown himself into a river it would not be easy to find him immediately. But we are still searching, although we can’t even trace his phone signal,” he added.
Meanwhile, in Unjiru village, grief-stricken relatives continued to mourn the death of Ms Nyaguthii even as one of them said an autopsy was expected to be conducted on the body on Thursday.
Mr Bernard Muraguri told mourners that Ms Nyaguthii will be laid to rest on Friday.
Ms Nyaguthii’s heart-breaking story shocked the nation because her life was cut short by the same man she cared for and nursed back to health in hospital before the two married.
Mr Muriithi was her patient who had fallen victim to domestic violence at the hands of his first wife over 20 years ago.
