Editor's Review

  • The man is suspected of killing his 24-year-old wife on suspicion of infidelity after finding a love message in her phone authored by another man.

A man in Kakamega County has been arrested after he allegedly beat his wife to death over a text message.

Edwin Okoth Owino is suspected of killing his 24-year-old wife on suspicion of infidelity after finding a love message in her phone authored by another man.

“On seeing the message on his wife's phone at around 10.30pm, Okoth went ahead to call upon the girl (a neighbour) whom he believed was his wife's best friend, before landing on both ruthlessly with a piece of wood. Whereas the girl managed to escape with injuries and hid in her home, the unlucky wife succumbed to the merciless beating,” DCI said in a statement.

In a bid to cover up the murder, Okoth visited the nearby police station and booked a sudden death report.


Detectives at a crime scene. [Photo: Courtesy]

In his report, he claimed that he left his wife in their sitting room the previous night, when he went to bed hoping she would join him shortly, however, she did not, prompting to go check on her, only to find that she was dead.

Officers from the station visited the scene and studied evidence after which Okoth was arrested as the officers' established foul play.

“Shockingly, a thoroughly beaten up body of his wife laid lifeless at the sitting room, where the suspect had stage-managed a suicide, suggesting she had taken poison. As police probed further into the suspect's inconsistencies, a 16-year-old girl who survived the man's brutality by a whisker last night emerged from the crowd that had since formed up, shedding light on the ordeal,” DCI added.

Okoth is currently in custody and is expected in court soon to answer to murder-related charges.