Nakuru killer officer Bernard Sivo confessed to wife, then took his own life

Minutes after shooting dead his lover as she lay helplessly on a hospital bed, Njoro police corporal Bernard Sivo called his wife and dropped the bombshell: ‘I am about to kill myself’.

What followed were desperate calls to stop him from proceeding with his mission but as things turned out, it was too late. The officer had all along put in place a homicide-suicide plan, it was just a matter of execution.

On Sunday, Sivo walked to Njoro Sub-county hospital and fired 13 times as Mary Nyambura, 29, was receiving treatment for a fractured leg following an earlier tussle between them. She died instantly.

“He came home on Sunday evening, took a shower and left without disclosing where he was going. He later returned, changed his clothes and left again. About 10 minutes later, he called to say he had killed Nyambura and was also planning to take his life,” said Ms Joyce Ndunge at Njoro Police Station.

She pleaded with him not to commit suicide but it appeared Sivo had made up his mind as things got out of control soon after. The officer returned to the station and began shooting aimlessly, prompting his colleagues to scatter.

AK-47 recovered

“During the attempts to disarm him, he turned the gun on himself. He shot himself in the chin. The bullet exited on the upper forehead. He died instantly,” his colleagues at Njoro police station said.

The dead officer’s AK-47 rifle S/NO. 4912292 was recovered from the scene with 11 rounds of ammunition.

Mr Stephen Wekesa, who runs a popular wines and spirit outlet in Njoro town where Kivo patronised, said the officer had earlier told him he was “going somewhere far and will never return”.

“He came to the shop with another officer at 11am and took a drink. I wasn’t around. I was told by my attendant that he also wanted some money, about Sh500, which he was given,” said Mr Wekesa.

“He later called to say he was going very far away and won’t be coming back. I did not understand what he meant until the incident later in the evening. A friend called me at around 3am and informed me what had happened. That’s when I remembered his words,” he added.

Short temper

Mr Wekesa said Nyambura and Sivo were regulars at his outlet and would fight whenever they disagreed. He said the officer had a short temper, was over-protective of his girlfriend and would cause a fracas whenever anyone approached her.

“They fought whenever they disagreed on any issue. It appears the murder had been planned earlier. We are still wondering what came over him and why he decided to kill his lover and take his life,” said Mr Wekesa.

 Ms Grace Njoki, a bar attendant, said she met Kivo on Thursday at the club looking jovial as usual.

“He was a good friend. He used to tell me that he loves his wife and children whenever we met. He however never shared anything concerning his murder-suicide plan,” she said.

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