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An Eldoret businessman suspected to have killed his estranged wife last month and dumped her dismembered body in Nandi and Uasin Gishu counties was arraigned at Eldoret court yesterday over murder.

Francis Ndung’u who looked relaxed and composed in the dock appeared before Eldoret High Court Deputy Registrar Rosemary Onkoba.

The police applied to hold the suspect at Eldoret GK remand prison for five more days to ascertain his fitness to stand trial.

The court heard that the suspect who was arrested two weeks ago at his Shauri estate home in the outskirts of Eldoret town over the brutal killing of his wife, Rael Cherop Biwott is yet to undergo mental assessment before taking plea.

The deceased, a mother of four children, was an accountant at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

Onkoba directed that Ndung’u be escorted to the GK Remand Prison until Monday when he will undergo a Psychiatric examination at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.

“The suspect will be escorted to Eldoret GK Remand prison until Monday when he will be taken for mental assessment at MTRH, and then he will take plea for murder on July 31,” ruled Onkoba.

Earlier, the suspect caused a stir in the court when he asked Onkoba to free him on reasonable bond terms to attend to his business which is crumbling.

“Your honour, I am praying that you grant me bond so that I can attend to my business which is on the verge of collapse since my arrest by the police two weeks ago,” stated Ndung’u to the shock of the packed court.

Ndung’u also seized the opportunity by asking the court to allow him seek specialized treatment in the hospital of his choice saying that he was feeling unwell.

The Deputy High Court Registrar overruled him on the application to be allowed to seek treatment outside the correctional facility saying that his medication will be well catered for at the Eldoret GK Remand Prison.

According to the police officers attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Turbo Sub County, the slain mother of four was reported missing by her husband 24 hours after she left her workplace last month.

Ndung’u, who is the prime suspect in the murder case, had told the DCI that his wife went missing after breakfast which contradicted statements by his children and accomplice.

A section of the statement read in part: “Probing the case, Homicide detectives jointly with their Kapseret counterparts have so far established that the deceased left her workplace minutes to 7pm in the company of her husband on June 22, and contrary to the suspect’s testimony that they boarded a matatu home, aCCTV footage obtained.