A Kenyan
assistant pastor named Elijah Misiko, with the Ground for God’s Gospel Church
in Mombasa, during a church service, left his front-row seat and approached his
wife, senior pastor Ann Mughoi, on the pulpit and stabbed her with one of the
knives he had hidden in an envelope, a report has said.
The incident
happened on Sunday, according to Mombasa sub-county police commander Julius
Kiragu,
“He walked
up to his wife while the church was praying”. Then he took one of the knives
and stabbed her two times, believing she was dead, he then stabbed himself
three times in the stomach and slit his throat, ” police said.
Misiko died
instantly from his stab wounds and Mughoi, his wife died at a local hospital a
few hours later, police said.
The couple
is said to have been engaged in a long-running feud over the ownership and
leadership of the church. In 2017, Misiko was detained by the police in Mombasa
after his wife alleged he planned to kill her, the police commander said.
Misiko was
released the following day after police said they found the accusations untrue.
The couple, which had four children, had lived apart since the dispute began
two years ago, police said.
Misiko left
a 17-page suicide note in which he accused Mughoi of changing ownership of the
church, which he said the couple founded, to her name alone, police said.
The two bodies were moved to the Coast General Hospital mortuary.