Man Accused of Paying Someone to Inject Family Member with Disease So She'd Die 'Slow Death': Investigators

Leonard Thuo Mwithiga was arrested in Putnam, Conn., on Monday

A man who allegedly followed a family member from Kenya into the U.S. has been arrested on accusations he tried to hire someone to murder her, according to authorities.

Leonard Thuo Mwithiga was arrested in Putnam, Conn., on Monday and faces charges of attempt to commit murder and attempt to commit murder with special circumstances, according to court records reviewed by PEOPLE.

The 52-year-old father of two allegedly asked his Uber driver to find someone that would “finish” the family member, who is a woman and identified as “Victim#1” in court records.

The Uber driver, who Mwithiga communicated with outside the Uber app on numerous occasions between September and December, recorded their conversations and reported them to authorities, according to court documents reviewed by PEOPLE.

Over the weekend, police spoke with the woman who claimed that she had tried to escape Mwithiga on numerous occasions in Kenya, but all her attempts were futile. On one occasion, as she was trying to leave the country, Mwithiga allegedly reported her to the police and she was not allowed to leave, she said, according to the investigation report. He then allegedly had her committed to a mental institution. She was subsequently released.

In September 2022, the woman arrived in the U.S.

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Upon being notified by the informant about Mwithiga's alleged plan, police assigned an undercover agent to meet with Mwithiga under the guise of a contract killer on Monday, the investigation report says.

During their communication, Mwithiga allegedly said he wanted to “fight evil with evil” and implied he would approve of a plan where the woman “was injected with something to make her very sick, 'Like a cancer,’” the report states.

Mwithiga allegedly offered the undercover agent $4,000 to carry out the killing and told the agent that he wanted the woman to die a “slow death,” the report claims. It further alleges that Mwithiga asked the killing between Jan. 28 and Feb 3, 2024, when he would be in Kenya, where both him and the victim resided before he allegedly followed her to Connecticut.

Mwithiga is being held on $5,000,000 bond, court records show. No attorney information was available as of Thursday morning; his next court date is scheduled for January.

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