A man suspected to have brutally murdered Catholic priest Michael Kyengo now claims that he was in a homosexual relationship with the man of the cloth, further complicating investigations.
According to reports by the Star, sleuths looking into the matter found romantic messages exchanged between the priest and the suspect in their phones.
The suspect, 25-year-old Michael Muthini, is a trained nursery school teacher.
Kyengo was killed on October 5 and his body recovered on October 16 from a shallow grave in a riverbed at Mbeere South, Embu County.
Read: Murdered Meru Catholic Priest Was In The Company Of Lover Of Six Years
According to preliminary investigations, Kyengo was killed in a rented house occupied by the suspect, where a weapon that was used to stab him was recovered.
Postmortem reports indicate that the knife was used to injure, and stab him twice on the stomach causing his death.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are now contemplating conducting another autopsy to ascertain whether there was sexual intercourse before the murder.
Read: Catholic Priest Killed In Kiambu, Sunday’s Offering Stolen
Kyengo and Muthini are said to have known each other since 2008 at a seminary in Machakos County and have since maintained a close contact.
The teacher, who is yet to be employed sells cereals and sings in the local Catholic church choir, with locals terming him as a “staunch Catholic believer”.
Mr Muthini was arrested in Malindi town on October 11 by officers from the DCI while driving the slain priest’s car.
Read: Local Catholic Priest Banished After Impregnating Girls And Paying For Abortions
Another suspect, Solomon Mutava, 44, was arrested as he is suspected to be the man who drove the priest’s vehicle from Embu to Malindi on the night of October 9.
Police are contemplating of using Mutava, a bodaboda rider, as a state witness.
Another senior church leader in Embu is also under scrutiny, after it was reported that he was not in good terms with the priest.
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