A 25-year-old man suspected of strangling his mother in Trans Nzoia County on Saturday was arrested in Mombasa on Sunday evening.
The suspect, who had been on the run, was arrested by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Police in Kiminini, Trans Nzoia, started looking for the man after Barasa Andrew Wanjala, 66, husband of the deceased woman, Ms Judith Nafula Konya, 50, reported the case.
The suspect allegedly killed his mother after she scolded him for stealing bags of maize.
Ms Konya was a laboratory technician at St Joseph Girls High School Kitale.
The suspect was arrested in Mtwapa while on his way to Kilifi, said Trans Nzoia County Criminal Investigations Officer Francis Kihara.
“The suspect, who was on the run, was heading to Kilifi before being apprehended by our counterparts who were tracking his movements between Nyali and Mtwapa,” Mr Kihara told Nation.Africa.
Arrangements were being made to take the suspect to Kitale, where he will face murder charges.
“We are looking for a way to ferry him to Kitale and help with investigations since he was with other individuals while committing the offence. Once a postmortem is done and other suspects arrested, they will face murder charges,” he said.
A postmortem was scheduled for Monday but was put off to a later date because of disagreements in the family.
Mr Wanjala told Nation.Africa that his wife’s family wants to be represented during the postmortem.
“We were supposed to have a postmortem today but my wife’s family wants her elder brother to be present so we have pushed [the procedure] to a later date to be communicated,” he said.
On Saturday, at around 4pm, a herdsman discovered the woman’s body floating in the Kiminini River.
A police report said Mr Barasa reported that his wife was missing and could not be reached on her mobile phone.
“Investigations into the matter commenced and it’s suspected that the [deceased woman’s] 25-year-old son … was involved,” police had said in their report.
“Police were notified and scene of crime detectives from Kiminini and Kitale visited the scene as investigations into the shocking incident commenced.”
The woman’s body was retrieved from the river and taken to the Cherangany Nursing Home mortuary in Kitale.
Speaking to Nation.Africa in Bondeni village, Mr Barasa said he tried calling his wife 64 times after she went missing, but her mobile phone was off.
“We even called the school but we were told she was not there. So, when we visited her house with detectives, we discovered urine on the bedsheets,” he said.
“We also discovered that she might have been attacked in the house and strangled by over three people because the scene appeared disturbed.”
Mr Barasa, who suspects his son was behind the murder, said the young man had visited a relative in Eldoret on the day his mother went missing, and his whereabouts were unknown.
St Joseph Girls High Principal Rosebella Oraro said they were saddened by the incident.
“She was in school on Monday, October 17, and prepared the laboratory for practical lessons. However, she didn’t show up on Tuesday. So we thought she was sick. On Wednesday, we went to her house and didn’t find her. We have looked for her everywhere,” Ms Oraro said. BY DAILY NATION