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Former Kenya Commercial Bank director Leonard Mwithiga has been arrested and charged in Connecticut, US for allegedly planning the murder of his wife.

Mwithiga (pictured) was on Tuesday charged with criminal attempt and intimidation of a witness, conspiracy to commit murder and criminal attempt, murder with special circumstances.

“This man had a plan to kill his wife. I think he poses a serious threat not only to his wife but also his children,” the prosecutor said in court.

According to court documents, the wife and children left Kenya because he was abusive. The documents further stated that Mwithiga said he wanted to “fight evil with evil” and was to pay US dollar 4,000 to the killer.

Mwithiga was staying in a motel in Connecticut since September. For three months, between September 9 and December 1, he on several occasions planned how the family member would be murdered early next year.

Hitman

The senior banker initially confided in someone that he had family issues and was considering harming a family member. The informant started recording the conversations after he told him that he needed someone who is a killer.

On Saturday, an undercover state trooper posed as a hitman, and offered to do the job. Mwithiga, oblivious of the plan, agreed to meet him on Saturday and identified the person to be murdered and the conditions.

According to NBC Connecticut, court documents showed that Mwithiga on October 26 contacted the man and asked if he knew someone who could “hit” the family member. He further contacted him on November 3 and December 1. The “hitman” was supposed to take the victim on a date and drug her.

Mwithiga, in several recorded conversations that were presented in court on, said he needed a hitman who would “put that woman down and finish her.”

He further told the informant that he needed someone who is a killer who would put some injection on “her food or water that would kill her slowly like cancer.”

Mwithiga had wanted the family member killed between January 28 and February 3, 2024, when he would already have been back in Kenya so that he would not be connected to the crime.

In court, Mwithiga maintained his innocence and said he was in Connecticut to settle some court proceedings and was due to return to Kenya today (Thursday).

Kevin Shay, a Judge at the Danielson Superior Court, said Mwithiga was accused for a murder-for-hire plan and gave the accused a hefty bond of US dollar 5 million with stringent terms.

If Mwithiga manages to post bond, he’ll have to turn in his passport, wear GPS monitoring, and be under house arrest. There is also a protective order in place.

The judge referred to Mwithiga as “an extreme flight risk.”

Police said witnesses had recorded statements and that there was sufficient proof that the banker plotted the murder of a family member.

Mwithiga 52, is a former Group Director-Shared Services at National Bank of Kenya Ltd and was also the director of Information Technology at KCB Bank.