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Son of murdered Texas priest charged

13 February 2015

EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF TEXAS

Killed:  the Revd Israel Ahimbisibwe

Killed:  the Revd Israel Ahimbisibwe

THE son of a priest in the Episcopal Church in the United States has been charged with two counts of murder, after his father, mother, and younger brother were found bludgeoned to death in their apartment in Houston, Texas (News, 6 February).

The son, Isaac Tiharihondi, aged 19, was arrested in Mississippi, and had been sent back to Houston, where he appeared in court on Monday night.

He is accused of beating his parents, the Revd Israel Ahimbisibwe and his wife, Dorcus, to death with a baseball bat, a lamp, and a hammer. His five-year-old brother, Israel, was killed with a kitchen knife.

The murder was discovered after his father, who was Vicar of the Church of the Redeemer and Chaplain at the University of Houston, failed to appear at church on Sunday.

The Bishop of Texas, the Rt Revd C. Andrew Doyle, said: "While I am relieved [that] authorities have found Isaac, I am heartbroken that he has been charged with capital murder. This only adds to the tragedy of their deaths, and raises more questions than it answers."

The family had another son, Emmanuel, who was away at boarding school when the murders occurred.

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