During a church service, a Kenyan pastor reportedly stabbed his wife multiple times before taking his own life, shocking the congregation that witnessed the murder-suicide.
Elijah Misiko, an assistant pastor at the Ground for God’s Gospel Church in Mombasa, left his seat and approached his wife, senior pastor Ann Mughoi, on the pulpit with a knife concealed in an envelope, according to police who were briefed by eyewitnesses.
“He walked up to his wife while the church was praying as if he wanted to whisper something to her,” said Mombasa sub-county police commander Julius Kiragu. “Then he took one of the knives and stabbed her (wife) two times. He believed she was dead. He then stabbed himself three times in the stomach and slit his throat.”
Misiko succumbed to his self-inflicted injuries, while Mughoi passed away at a local hospital a few hours later, as confirmed by the police.
The couple had been embroiled in a prolonged dispute over the church’s ownership and leadership, disclosed Julius Kiragu to CNN.
In 2017, Misiko was arrested by Mombasa police after his wife accused him of plotting to kill her. However, he was released the next day when the allegations were deemed false by the authorities.
According to the police, the couple, who had four children, had been living separately for the past two years due to the ongoing dispute.
“She had been trying to stay away from the husband since the dispute over the ownership of the church began,” Kiragu told CNN. “They had even reported the matter to church leaders but they were unable to resolve the dispute.”
Misiko left a 17-page suicide note in which he accused Mughoi of transferring the church’s ownership, which they had founded together, solely to her name, as per the police.