A police officer has died by suicide after killing his two children and a nephew at his rural home in Homa Bay County.
The officer, identified as David Okebe Goga, had returned home three weeks ago from his work station in Marsabit.
Homa Bay County Police Commander Lawrence Koilem said the officer is believed to have poisoned the three children--his two sons and a nephew--before hanging himself inside his house.
The officer's body was found on Sunday afternoon, suspended from the roof of his house.
His brother, Fred Ochieng, told journalists that Goga had been experiencing marital problems and work-related stress, which may have contributed to the incident.
"He told me on Saturday that he was going to visit our ailing mother in hospital. It wasn't easy to tell he was troubled. There was nothing suspicious," Ochieng said.
In a suicide note addressed to his father-in-law, the officer accused him of exerting pressure over the education of his daughter--Goga's wife--suggesting she was being pushed to focus on her own family's future rather than their household.
"You claimed that she's your first-born daughter, so she must be educated to come help you in future, not even her family," the note read.
Goga also cited mounting pressure at work, revealing he was supposed to report back to duty in Marsabit on April 1 but failed to do so. In the note, he accused a senior officer of threatening him.
"He does not tell you anything yet he wants you to be present. I wanted to come to finish him too but I backed off because his children still needed him. Should he not change, then someday he will be finished by his juniors," he wrote.
The officer also left burial instructions, stating that his body and those of the children should not be placed in caskets but wrapped in blankets instead.
"He had a lot of ambitions, but he was reserved--hard to read," his brother added.
Police recovered a combat bag the officer had used to carry his belongings from Marsabit.
Commander Koilem said investigations are underway to determine what substance was used to kill the children.
"We don't yet know what was used. That will be established through a postmortem and toxicology tests," he said.
The bodies were moved to Homa Bay County Referral Hospital Mortuary.
