Shocking details on the brutal murder of a Physics teacher at Hopewell High School in Barut, Nakuru County, have emerged even as the police closed in on two students from two different schools.
A third suspect has also been apprehended over the killing of Peter Omare on Thursday night, less than a hundred metres from his house. His neighbour Ben Kirui said they heard a loud scream a few minutes past 10pm and on responding, they found the teacher writhing in pain next to his house.“We found him lying in a pool of blood behind his house. He had been hit on the head with a blunt object that opened up his skull. He died a few minutes before we could rush him to hospital,” Kirui said.
According to the school director Vitalis Kahenda, the 32-year-old was on duty and had supervised the evening remedial classes for the boarding students before leaving for his home.The school administration revealed that the deceased had at around 6pm confiscated a mobile phone from a Fourth Former he spotted receiving it through the fence from two outsiders.“He had shared information on the confiscated mobile phone but had not yet handed it over to the management since it was late. The school policy is that such phones are confiscated until the owners complete their studies,” Kahenda said.Mr Kahenda revealed that the teacher had earlier on confiscated another phone from the same suspects under similar circumstances, but no threats against him were reported.“The same suspects had sneaked in another mobile phone for a different student and Omare confiscated it. In our view, this might have been a revenge attack against him. The confiscated device and his own were stolen by the attackers from him. Only his keys were found at the scene,” he said.
He however said the arrested student from his school had no bad record and his alleged involvement was a shock to the community.The other student is from the neighbouring Tumaini Secondary School.
Favourite teacher
The victim’s mother Florence Moraa mourned the death of his first son in whom she had much hope that he would assist uplift the family.“He was the eldest among my four children. I educated him so that he could uplift his siblings. Some have completed high school but I was unable to take them to university. It is my prayer that justice will be served for my son,” Moraa said.
His wife Doreen Moraa, with whom they had a son, is yet to come to terms with the loss of her husband. Tears flowed freely at the school as shocked day scholars arrived in school to find their schoolmates wailing and mourning the death of one of their favourite teachers.Learning was paralysed for the better part of the day as the learners and teachers came to terms with the sudden death of the teacher. Rawlex Atieno, the school captain, described him as one of the best teachers who dedicated much of his time to assist them.“It is a big loss to us. He was always busy attending to students seeking his assistance. Minutes before he was killed, he entered every classroom and ensured all was well. We were shocked to learn about his murder minutes later,” Atieno said.
Omare graduated from Maseno University in 2016 and enrolled for post-graduate studies at Mount Kenya University which he was to complete in April this year.Residents described him as a hardworking and peaceful person who had no known differences with his neighbours since he moved to the area three years ago.“He spends most of his time within the school and interacted freely with residents. The attack has left us in shock. No one would have thought someone had planned to harm such a humble person,” Kirui said.Nakuru OCPD Samuel Obara said the three suspects were being held at Rhonda Police Station pending investigations.The suspects were arrested in a nearby homestead which has been a den for illicit brews and drugs.