Murder suspect David Kariuki escaped from custody during an open-air court session last Thursday, Kajiado North subcounty police boss Rashid Mohamed has said.
Mohamed told the Star on Sunday that Kariuki took off after handcuffs had been removed from his wrists as the court session began at Ngong police station.
He said the suspect snatched a kitchen knife from a watermelon vendor and ran out of Ngong market, forcing police officers to shoot at him.
Kariuki was shot in the thigh to immobilise him but he started stabbing his chest and later died from his injuries.
He had been arrested following the murder of his wife Mary Wanjiru on Tuesday.
Bishop Julius Tinkoi, who was monitoring the events in Ngong on the telephone after the murder of his church choir member, ordered his associate pastor – Jacob Kamau at Gospel Revival Centre, Ngong – to take the children to safety.
Kamau arranged for the children to be taken to their maternal grandparents home in Murang’a.
“This, we thought as a church would be a safe haven for the children. We feared Kariuki would come back in the night after his escape and harm the children,” Kamau said on Saturday.
Pastor Kamau, who presided over the wedding of the couple said the suspect worked for his church until the Covid-19 outbreak when he left.
“Kariuki and his late wife were members of the church. Wanjiku was a member of the church choir and was also coordinating prayers within the choir,” Kamau said.
“What I noted with Kariuki is that two months before killing his wife, he started missing church services.”
The associate pastor said he was forced to pick a pastoral team that would investigate the new habits of Kariuki but he failed to meet them.
“Kariuki was a quiet man and that made it impossible for us to understand him. We do not know the reasons that led him to kill his wife in cold blood. He never shared his feeling with anyone, not even with our church ministers,” Kamau said.
The associate pastor said the entire church is in shock of what happened until their two senior members lost their lives.
