- The woman also happens to be his colleague at the workplace in Ruai.
- Come Sunday morning at around 8am, the priest’s girlfriend rushed to the reception and notified the hotel management that his boyfriend was complaining of dizziness
A Catholic priest died on Saturday morning after a night in lodging with his girlfriend in Murang'a.
Detectives have already launched investigations into the death of Fr Joseph Kariuki Wanjiku who is said to have fell unconscious and died.
The 43-year-old priest was serving at St Peter's Parish in Ruai within the archdiocese of Nairobi.
Police said Kariuki on Friday checked into Monalisa Hotel in Murang'a county in the company of his girlfriend where they ate chicken and drank some liquor before retiring for the night.
Gatanga subcounty police commander Lawrence Njeru said the two lovebirds spent the night in the hotel only for the priest to fall sick the following morning.
The woman was said to be aged 32 and had been the priest's girlfriend for six years.
The hotel workers who have since recorded statements with the police said Fr Kariuki had patronised the premises for the last two years.
After the incident happened, the woman notified the management of the hotel that the priest was unwell and was experiencing bouts of dizziness.
They covered him with a blanket and put him in his car and took him to Kenol Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The woman who was accompanied by several workers of the hotel then headed to Samuru police post where they notified the police about the incident before recording a statement.
Njeru said they found the body in the back of the vehicle half covered with a blanket.
“The body was fresh but had foam coming out of the mouth. We made inquiries and discovered that priests’ bodies cannot be preserved in a normal mortuary so we made arrangements to have it transported to Nairobi, accompanied by our officers."
Njeru however noted that investigations had commenced to establish the cause of his death.
“We interviewed his companion and she told us she had had an affair with the priest for the last six years,” the police boss said.
Kariuki was also said to be a farmer at Mang’u area and the girlfriend is a colleague at his workplace in Ruai.
Murang’a county police commander Kainga Mathiu said white foam was oozing from the mouth and the nose of Kariuki when police arrived.
“The police processed the scene and moved the body to Mater Hospital mortuary in Nairobi under the escort of police officers pending autopsy and further police action,” Mathiu said.
It is suspected that Kariuki died of heart attack.