Kenyan pastor commits suicide after stabbing wife to death during service

A Kenyan pastor, on Sunday, stabbed his wife to death and then slit his own throat in front of the congregation.

Elijah Misiko, an assistant pastor with the Ground for God’s Gospel Church in Mombasa, reportedly left his front row seat, approached his wife, Ann Mughoi, who is also a senior pastor, on the pulpit and stabbed her with one of the knives “he’d hidden in an envelope” .

Julius Kiragu, Mombasa sub-county police commander, confirmed the incident saying investigations were underway.

The police said they found a 17-page suicide note on Misiko where he accused his wife of changing ownership of the church to her name, despite being founded by both of them.

“He walked up to his wife while the church was praying as if he wanted to whisper something to her,” Kiragu said.

“Then he took one of the knives and stabbed her two times. He believed she was dead. He then stabbed himself three times in the stomach and slit his throat.”

Misiko was said to have died instantly from his stab wounds while his wife died at a local hospital a few hours later.

According to Kiragu, the couple, who had four children, had been engaged in a feud over the ownership and leadership of the church.

The were said to have been living apart since the dispute started.

In 2017, Misiko was reportedly detained by the police in Mombasa after his wife alleged that he planned to kill her but was released the following day after the force said they found the accusations untrue.

“She had been trying to stay away from the husband since the dispute over the ownership of the church began,” Kiragu said.

“They had even reported the matter to church leaders but they were unable to resolve the dispute.”

The bodies of the deceased had since been moved to the mortuary.