The body of 40-year-old Peter Munene, who had been missing since Sunday, was discovered covered with a nylon sack after neighbours reported a foul smell emanating from his house.
According to Joseph Kabacu, Munene’s landlord and friend, the deceased was last seen alive on Sunday evening when the two spent time together at a local bar.
Kabacu said he later heard Munene arguing with his lover at around midnight and warned the couple against causing a disturbance.
“I told them that if they continued fighting, I would chase them away. They kept quiet,” Kabacu recounted.
The following morning, Kabacu said he asked the woman about Munene’s whereabouts, but she claimed he had gone out.
Kabacu, who regularly accompanied Munene for casual labour, said he became suspicious after his friend failed to return and the house remained locked with a new padlock.
The discovery was made after neighbours alerted local administrators to a foul smell coming from the house.
Ndindiruku village in-charge Kilonzo Musyoka said he was called to the homestead following complaints from residents and subsequently notified Kiarukungu Location Chief Henry Kariuki.
Police officers from Wang’uru Police Station were called to the scene and forced their way into the locked house.
“When police broke in, we searched where the smell was coming from and found Peter Munene’s body under the bed, in a corner of the bed, covered with a nylon sack,” Musyoka said.
The discovery shocked residents, many of whom knew Munene as a casual labourer and had grown concerned about his unexplained absence.
Josephine Karitu, a neighbour who frequently worked alongside the deceased, said residents were struggling to come to terms with the circumstances surrounding his death.
“We had been calling him ‘one term’, and we are shocked to hear he had been killed by his lover and put under a bed in his rented house,” Karitu said.
Munene’s brother, Patrick Njenga, said the deceased was unmarried and appealed to authorities to ensure those responsible for his death are brought to justice.
Njenga also urged residents with information about the whereabouts of the woman to assist investigators.
“I want justice for my brother,” he said.
Chief Kariuki confirmed that the woman, whose identity remains unknown to local administrators, had disappeared from the village and was being sought in connection with the death.
“The woman is not in the village, but we are urging people to help each other so that the suspect can be arrested,” Kariuki said.
He further urged landlords to maintain proper records of their tenants, saying such information could assist authorities during criminal investigations.
Munene’s body was moved to a mortuary pending a postmortem examination to establish the cause of death.
Police are yet to establish the circumstances surrounding the killing, even as investigations continue to trace the missing woman.
