Yegomasika
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- Mar 21, 2009
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Man arrested in Vadnais
Heights triple murder
MINNEAPOLIS -- A 43-year-old Minnesota man who
allegedly threatened to kill his wife two years ago
was in custody Thursday on pending murder
charges after authorities found his wife and two of
their children dead in the family's two-bedroom
apartment.
Authorities went to the apartment in Vadnais Heights
late Wednesday after a relative asked them to check
on the family's welfare. Deputies found the woman
dead in the bathroom, and the bodies of the 9-year-
old girl and 12-year-old boy in separate bedrooms,
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said.
"The scene is horrific because we don't know for
sure how long they've been dead," Fletcher said.
The husband was missing, along with the couple's
4-year-old girl, Fletcher said. A statewide bulletin
was issued, but the husband had already been
arrested in southern Minnesota for alleged impaired
driving.
Fletcher said the husband confessed and that
murder charges that could be filed as early as
Friday. The 4-year-old girl is safe. The names of the
victims are the wife, 32-year-old Bilha Omare, 12-
year-old Kinley Ogendi and 9-year-old Ivyn Ogendi.
"Any time that children, innocent children, are
victimized it's a tragedy," Fletcher said. "But it really
is a horrific tragedy when it's at the hands of their
own parents."
Authorities were awaiting autopsy results before
releasing a cause of death. Fletcher said there was
no evidence of gunshot wounds and that there was
no extensive bleeding involved in the children's
deaths.
"It appears the mother has been dead for a longer
period of time," Fletcher said, adding that it's
possible the children were kept in the apartment
while the mother's body was in the bathroom. The
woman did not report to work all week, he said, and
the children did not go to school.
"Someone called in and indicated they were sick," he
said of the children. He did not know who made that
call.
The husband has a prior arrest for . According to a
sheriff's incident report, authorities went to the
third-floor apartment in December 2008, and the
woman told them the husband pushed her across
the room, threatened to hit her with a vacuum, and
threatened to kill her. The woman also said he had
beaten her unconscious when the couple lived in
Kenya and that she was afraid for her life, the report
said.
Authorities say the crime speaks to a larger issue
about the local immigrant population and domestic
abuse.
"I'm just saying we need to do a better job of
reaching out to our immigrant communities that are
here," said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.
Carol Arthur with the Domestic Abuse Project says
while domestic abuse does not discriminate, women
in some cultures face even greater obstacles.
"If you have a culture of community that believes
men are in charge and men get to control their
wives and children, sometimes by use of violence,
then you're more likely to have domestic violence,"
Arthur said.
She said it highlights the need for education about
options -- including information about the crisis
hotline number: 1.866.223.1111, and other
resources available.
Meantime -- in relation to the 2008 incident
involving this family, the husband denied ever
abusing his wife, and told the deputy he loved her
but she was mean to him, the report said. Online
Heights triple murder
MINNEAPOLIS -- A 43-year-old Minnesota man who
allegedly threatened to kill his wife two years ago
was in custody Thursday on pending murder
charges after authorities found his wife and two of
their children dead in the family's two-bedroom
apartment.
Authorities went to the apartment in Vadnais Heights
late Wednesday after a relative asked them to check
on the family's welfare. Deputies found the woman
dead in the bathroom, and the bodies of the 9-year-
old girl and 12-year-old boy in separate bedrooms,
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said.
"The scene is horrific because we don't know for
sure how long they've been dead," Fletcher said.
The husband was missing, along with the couple's
4-year-old girl, Fletcher said. A statewide bulletin
was issued, but the husband had already been
arrested in southern Minnesota for alleged impaired
driving.
Fletcher said the husband confessed and that
murder charges that could be filed as early as
Friday. The 4-year-old girl is safe. The names of the
victims are the wife, 32-year-old Bilha Omare, 12-
year-old Kinley Ogendi and 9-year-old Ivyn Ogendi.
"Any time that children, innocent children, are
victimized it's a tragedy," Fletcher said. "But it really
is a horrific tragedy when it's at the hands of their
own parents."
Authorities were awaiting autopsy results before
releasing a cause of death. Fletcher said there was
no evidence of gunshot wounds and that there was
no extensive bleeding involved in the children's
deaths.
"It appears the mother has been dead for a longer
period of time," Fletcher said, adding that it's
possible the children were kept in the apartment
while the mother's body was in the bathroom. The
woman did not report to work all week, he said, and
the children did not go to school.
"Someone called in and indicated they were sick," he
said of the children. He did not know who made that
call.
The husband has a prior arrest for . According to a
sheriff's incident report, authorities went to the
third-floor apartment in December 2008, and the
woman told them the husband pushed her across
the room, threatened to hit her with a vacuum, and
threatened to kill her. The woman also said he had
beaten her unconscious when the couple lived in
Kenya and that she was afraid for her life, the report
said.
Authorities say the crime speaks to a larger issue
about the local immigrant population and domestic
abuse.
"I'm just saying we need to do a better job of
reaching out to our immigrant communities that are
here," said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.
Carol Arthur with the Domestic Abuse Project says
while domestic abuse does not discriminate, women
in some cultures face even greater obstacles.
"If you have a culture of community that believes
men are in charge and men get to control their
wives and children, sometimes by use of violence,
then you're more likely to have domestic violence,"
Arthur said.
She said it highlights the need for education about
options -- including information about the crisis
hotline number: 1.866.223.1111, and other
resources available.
Meantime -- in relation to the 2008 incident
involving this family, the husband denied ever
abusing his wife, and told the deputy he loved her
but she was mean to him, the report said. Online
