Horror as man hacks grandparents to death over money

A man on Wednesday attacked his grandparents with a panga, killing them as they slept in their bedroom.

He then rummaged their house for money.

Police said the 23-year-old dug a hole in the wall to enter the room at around 1am, slashed his 86-year-old grandmother Anne Njeri on the neck and then slit the throat of Peter Kabuga, 90, in a frenzied attack that left Kemenywa village in Subukia sub-county, Nakuru, in shock.

According to the elderly couple’s relatives, the jobless man was after some money that the grandparents had been given by two visiting grandchildren earlier in the day.

Mr Mathew Waweru, a cousin of the suspect, said he was woken up by screams from his visiting cousins who were sleeping in the couple’s sitting room.

“I immediately alerted my uncle and we rushed to the house. It was horrifying to see their bloodied bodies lying on the floor,” said Mr Waweru, adding that the suspect, who fled from the scene immediately, could have been under the influence of bhang. 

VILLAGERS IN SHOCK

Mr Josphat Kabuga, a son of the couple said he was shocked because he had never imagined that his nephew was capable of such an abominable act.

He said he had always thought the suspect enjoyed cordial relations with his grandparents and that he had never threatened them.

The young man might have been after the money his father kept in a piggy bank in the bedroom and more that he had received from his nephew and niece, said a teary Kabuga.

“My parents always chatted with him. They were close and I cannot see any other reason why he had to kill them,” he said, adding: “He must have been interested in the more than Sh50,000 that my father had kept in his piggy account. He may have also thought that my nephew and niece brought him more money. So he wanted everything.”

Mr Kabuga said the suspect barged into the sitting room where his cousins were sleeping and tried to rape one of them, whom he hit with the panga, hurting her fingers.

The area chief, Mr Freddy Gitonga, said the suspect turned the house upside down as he ransacked it, a clear indication he was desperately looking for something.

“We are still investigating to find out the cause of the murder but we are extremely shocked because this kind of incident has never occurred before in this area,” said Mr Gitonga.

 County Police Commander Hassan Barua said officers were investigating the motive and appealed to the public to help them arrest the suspect.