A man, on October 2, 2022, left the country in grief after setting ablaze a timber house in Ngimari village in Embu county, killing seven members of the same family.
Those killed were then 50-year-old Charles Kariuki, his wife Catherine Wanjiru aged 46, their three children Joel Njeru, Judy Wanjiku, and Maryanne Murugi, and two grandchildren. More heartbreaking, Maryanne was preparing to sit the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination the following month.
Burnt the wrong house
it has since emerged that the man burnt the wrong house while targeting his estranged wife, Nation reported. Detectives said the suspect disagreed with his wife who, in turn, fled her matrimonial home in Kakamega and got married to another man in the
aforementioned Embu village. Learning that his then-wife had remarried, the arson suspect allegedly sent her a text message threatening to set her new family home on fire. However, while actualizing his threat, the man is said to have mistakenly set a neighbor’s house on fire, killing the seven family members.
Embu East Sub-county Police Commander Emmanuel Okanda said the suspect, currently in custody, will be arraigned to face murder charges.
