File photo: Crime

Police over the weekend arrested a man who is suspected of poisoning his wife and her friend, leading to their deaths over his wife’s refusal to cook.

Sebastian Kamande, 28, is alleged to have served poisoned food to his wife and her friend who had visited them at their home in Nairobi.

According to a police statement, the suspect then left their lifeless bodies sprawled on the floor and went into hiding.

He was arrested on Saturday as he travelled back to the city in a bid to outsmart detectives investigating the murder.

Preliminary investigations indicate that Kamande and his wife were having marital problems and efforts by the man’s parents to assist them to rekindle their once blissful union had hit a dead end.

It emerged that the couple had been invited by the man’s parents in a bid to salvage their union.

When they returned to their home, Kamande’s wife, who had since received a visitor, declined to cook, prompting the disgruntled husband to go in the kitchen and cook.

“It is during the preparation of the evening meal of rice and stew that the suspect laced it with an unspecified poison and served the two women before fleeing,” said police.

The suspect is being held at the police station awaiting arraignment to face murder charges.