A man has been arrested in connection with his lover’s brutal murder. According to reports, on Sunday morning, neighbours were woken up by screams from the house where Mr James Wambugu, 34, and Grace Kagure, 29, lived in Nairobi, Kenya.
“I am being killed!” She screamed repeatedly. It was between 6am and 7am.
Mr Joseph Rateng who lives next door says the screams were sudden and loud. When neighbours responded, they found the steel door locked from inside but Ms Kagure was still screaming. Then she stopped.
By chance, it happened that one window pane had not been locked from the inside. This gave the neighbours a chance to peep inside after they had been denied entry.
“The lady was on the floor naked with blood oozing from several parts. James was also naked standing beside her with a knife in his hands,” he said.
“When he saw us he rushed to the bedroom and came back fully dressed and opened the door,” said Mr Rateng.
A nurse who lives in the apartment was called to confirm if Ms Kagure was still alive. She had already died. The one-bedroom apartment had just turned into a murder scene and the two love birds had suddenly changed to victim and suspected killer.
It took the efforts of Nyumba Kumi representatives who rushed to the scene to save Mr Wambugu from a crowd that was baying for his blood.
Yesterday, police presented him before Makadara Law Courts and asked for permission to detain him as they completed investigations.
Chief magistrate Heston Nyaga agreed that it was necessary to continue holding the suspect as he is being investigated for a capital offence.
Neighbours who saw Ms Kagure’s body say she had more than 20 stab wounds including one in her forehead and two on both sides of the neck. She also had a number of wounds on her abdomen and chest.
Police sources told the Nation that Mr Wambugu claimed he only stabbed Ms Kagure twice and it was in self defence. He also claimed that he had no romantic relationship with her and that she was a stranger in his house.