Authorities in Kenya said a Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) elder fatally stabbed a fellow church elder over an alleged love triangle case. Per Citizen Digital, a church service was taking place when the 35-year-old victim Francis Opiyo was fatally stabbed.
The fatal Saturday incident is said to have occurred at Ramoya village in Homa Bay County. The incident was also witnessed by other church members, and Opiyo was at the altar when he was attacked.
Prior to being fatally stabbed, Opiyo had finished updating congregants on church reports. The church pastor was also set to deliver the main sermon when the suspect approached the victim and fatally stabbed him.
Suba South Sub County Police commander Caxton Ndunda also said Opiyo had transferred responsibilities to another church elder before the delivery of the main sermon. But while handing over, the suspect made his way to the altar and drew a knife he had concealed in a bible in his possession. He then stabbed Opiyo in the chest.
Ndunda said the suspect accused Opiyo of having an affair with his wife. The suspect’s wife also worships at the church. In the wake of the fatal incident, the suspect fled the scene and turned himself in to an area Assistant Chief, Citizen Digital reported.
Opiyo is said to have died of his injuries at a hospital. Ndunda said the suspect has since been arrested.
In 2023, Face2Face Africa reported a similar love triangle case where New York authorities said a jealous ex-lover shot another man in the head after staging a robbery to make it seem like he wasn’t targeting the victim.
According to WABC, the December 2023 incident, which was captured on surveillance video, occurred at a fish restaurant in Washington Heights. The victim, identified as 37-year-old Harrison Ferreiras, was eating at the restaurant when Heiton Camacho-Bonilla made his way inside and shot him after initially staging the robbery.
Prosecutors told the court that Camacho-Bonilla “attempted to assassinate the victim based on jealousy, and tried to throw investigators off his scent by pretending it was a robbery.”
Prosecutors said Camacho-Bonilla developed an obsession after the mother of his child and Ferreiras “had a brief romantic fling several months ago.” The suspect and the woman had already been separated for about eight months.