Kenyan pastor kills wife, self during Sunday service

A Kenya pastor, Elisha Misiko, stabbed his estranged wife, Ann Mughoi, to death during a Sunday service on January 8 and later killed himself.

Pastor Misiko and Pastor Ann had been married for 20 years with four children.

Christian Post reported that Misiko, 55, who slit his own throat and stabbed himself after attacking his wife, had been having disagreements with her over the management of their church, Ground for God’s Gospel Ministries in Mombasa County.

The newspaper quoted a village elder, Mtengo Amuri, as telling Kenya’s Daily Nation that “the two had been running the church for more than eight years but, in the last few months, they differed over management.”

Amuri said Misiko accused his wife of plotting to take over the church they both founded.

On the day of the incident, Misiko reportedly entered the church at about 9 am and sat next to his wife on the pulpit.

According to Amuri, as the service progressed, the clergyman who pretended to be whispering something to his wife, pulled two knives from under his shirt and stabbed her several times in the back, hand and stomach.

“The husband moved stealthily toward his wife and stabbed her in the back. When he tried to slit her throat, she blocked him, injuring her hand,” Amuri said.

He said members of the congregation intervened to halt the attack and that as they tried to save the woman, Misiko slit his own throat and stabbed himself three times in the stomach. He died instantly while Ann died hour after.

Ann was rushed to the hospital but could not survive the injury inflicted by her husband. They were both taken to the same hospital and mortuary.

Misiko reportedly threatened to kill his wife on many occasions.

Misiko, according to the Kenyan police, left a 17-page suicide note found on Tuesday, which he titled “Betrayal and Consequences.”

He accused his wife in the letter of infidelity and also that she wanted to take control of family property. He also alleged that Anne wanted to keep him away from their children while forcing him to pay child support.

“Ninety per cent of my money I sent to her (Anne) but she wrote on social media that I don’t pay fees or even buy clothes,” Misiko said in the note cited by The Star.

“When we got married, life was hard. I was forced to do the mkokoteni business. I took a loan from SMEP and combined with the money I had accumulated to buy a plot. I bought a plot for the sake of my family.

“She took away everything we accumulated for over 19 years. She took away my plot of land and church equipment by force.”

The couple had reportedly been living separately in the last two years.