Man arrested for ‘poisoning’ wife, her friend over food

KENYA – Police over the weekend arrested a man who is suspected of poisoning his wife and her friend leading to their deaths in Dandora after his wife refused to cook.

Sebastian Kamande, 28, is alleged to have served poisoned food to his wife Rahab Gathoni and her friend Abigael Gathoni, who had visited them at their home in Nairobi’s Dandora estate on March 29.

According to a police statement, the suspect then left their lifeless bodies sprawled on the floor and went into hiding in Dandora, where he escaped a police dragnet before fleeing to Embu.

He was arrested on Saturday along the Embu-Nairobi highway as he travelled back to the city in a bid to outsmart detectives investigating the murder.

Preliminary investigations indicate that Kamande and his wife were having marital problems and efforts by the man’s parents to assist them to rekindle their once blissful union had hit a dead end.

It emerged that the couple had been invited by the man’s parents to Kakuzi, Murang’a County last weekend in a bid to salvage their union.

When they returned to their home in Dandora, Kamande’s wife who had since received a visitor declined to cook, prompting the disgruntled husband to go in the kitchen and cook.

“It is during the preparation of the evening meal of rice and stew that the suspect laced it with an unspecified poison and served the two women before fleeing,” said police.
The suspect is being held at Dandora police station awaiting arraignment on Monday to face murder charges.