Suspect Claims He was in Gay Relationship with Slain Kenyan Catholic Priest Michael Kyengo

Investigations into the gruesome killing of Catholic priest Michael Kyengo took a fresh twist after a prime suspect allegedly told detectives that he was in a gay relationship with the deceased.

Father Kyengo’s body was found buried in a shallow grave in Embu on Wednesday, eight days after he disappeared from his home in Matungulu, Machakos County. 

A post-mortem examination revealed the cleric succumbed to stab wounds.

The prime suspect, a 25-year-old nursery school trained teacher, told detectives during questioning that he was in a romantic relationship with the priest, Standard Digital reported.

“Just like in cases where claims of sexual nature are made, we are considering a second round of examination on his body to confirm if there was any intercourse,” a source told Standard Digital.

Investigators are said to have found romantic text messages between the priest and the teacher on the latter’s mobile phone. The two referred to each other as “Hi dear” and “hi my love” in some of the text conversations seen by The Standard.

On Thursday, detectives from Special Crimes Prevention Unit traveled to Gaitegi village in Embu County where they confirmed the priest was murdered inside a rented house belonging to the suspect. 

They also recovered a knife from a latrine in the suspect’s home, which police believe is the murder weapon.

A neighbor told police that the suspect, who is not married, is a staunch Catholic, and a member of the local church choir. 

A boda boda operator in Kirinyaga was arrested on Thursday in connection with the murder of Kyengo.

44-year-old Solomon Mutava is believed to have driven Father Kyengo’s vehicle from Embu to Malindi on the night of October 9th, a day after the cleric went missing.

Police established that the suspect asked Mutava to drive him to Malindi as he did not have a driving license although he knew how to drive. Mutava is being considered as a State witness in the case.

The first suspect was arrested in Malindi on October 11th while driving the priest’s car, which had been repainted with a different color.

This was the suspect who has led police to the house where Kyengo was reportedly killed and where his body had been buried.