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Venomous killer who targeted whole family

Details

Published on Saturday, 18 October 2008 22:00

The elderly woman sits in a pensive mood at her doorstep pondering over something that appears to really bother her.Tears freely flow down her cheeks even before she can tell what is bothering her.

Mary Nyambeki shows pictures of her deceased husband.

It was the day her husband and two grandchildren died after eating food laced with a deadly poison. Residents of Bonyambone village, Gucha District still discuss the incident in low tones as if in fear that the killer might turn against them.But the tiny village, tucked behind four hills known to locals as Nyabitunwa Bine, remains as sleepy as it was last year.

On the fateful day, Nyambeki says she woke up and prepared porridge for breakfast. She then cut some sukuma wiki (Kale) and left it in her kitchen in readiness for lunch. "I then went for service at Mogenda SDA Church. The service took long so I returned home at 2 pm only to find my three grandchildren crying out of hunger," she remembers.

Her husband, Wilson Ombasa Akwati, 56, who had returned from church earlier, informed her that their dog had died. She took the issue lightly thinking the children may have pelted it with avocado fruits.

She entered the kitchen to cook as her husband went to bury the dog. But she discovered her cat had also died. "When food was ready, I tried to taste salt in the vegetables but immediately felt a burning sensation in my mouth. My stomach developed an upset besides feeling dizzy. I told my husband of the feeling but he dismissed me," says Nyambeki as she suppresses tears.

She served her husband first and then gave some to the elder grandchild to feed her three-year-old sister. She then went to fetch water from an adjacent house.

Before moving far, her husband called to inform her that her grandchild had overfed her younger sister and had started vomiting. On returning, she found the child vomiting. Immediately after, she says, her husband collapsed with the vegetables in his hands.

Confused, she rushed out and screamed for help. When neighbours came, she showed them what they were eating and immediately she also passed out. "I do not know what happened afterwards. Everything happened so fast. I only woke up the following day in hospital. I was told my husband had been taken to Kisii General Hospital and was fine," says Nyambeki.

Later she was informed that her husband had died. It is then that she realised that her two pets had died from the same poison put in her food. Somebody had sneaked into her kitchen while she was in church and laced the vegetables with poison. Donald Omwoyo, a neighbour, says he had just arrived in his house and was having lunch when it all happened. "At first I thought it was a domestic quarrel but my wife ventured out to investigate. She returned to tell me Ombasa was dying," says Omwoyo.

Ombasa’s younger brother rushed him to Kenyenya Sub-district Hospital before they were referred to Gucha District Hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival at 4 pm. The three-year-old child died while receiving treatment at a local dispensary.

The other child, Nyamusi Evans, died at Kenyenya Sub-district Hospital. The poison was so strong that those who had unknowingly inhaled it suffered bloated stomachs for two days. Doctors said the deaths were caused by a meal laced with poison. Samples of the food were taken to the government chemist in Kisumu for analysis. The outcome was never known as the samples were destroyed when rioters set the Government Chemist’s offices in Kisumu on fire during the post-election violence.

An elderly woman, Osebe Ondara, 50, was lynched the next day after a witch-hunt that involved the whole village. Evans Orenge Ombasa, 26, who lost two children in the tragedy says only God’s grace saved him as he was to take the meal. "I was not patient enough to wait for the meal so I went for a stroll and I met a friend. We ended up walking to Nyagancha market, two kilometres away. I came back at 3 pm," he recalls.

Omwoyo says the village has a history of mysterious deaths involving food poisoning. Area chief David Kenyanya says hatred and jealousy propels locals to engage in such acts. In May 2005, four members of the same family who included three children died after consuming milk laced with poison. Nyambeki wants those who planned the evil to be brought to justice. Gucha South public health officer, Hezron Omayio says acute poisoning caused the deaths but the true analysis of the poison used will never be known.