Minister's son accused of killing dad, wife, half brother
HOUSTON — The son of an Episcopal priest found slain earlier this week was arrested Wednesday in Jackson, Miss., accused of killing his father, his father's wife and the couple's young son.
Isaac Tiharihondi, 19, was arrested on two counts of capital murder at around 2:30 a.m. CT in Jackson, Miss., more than 350 miles from here and is being held in the Hinds County Detention Facility in Raymond, Miss., until he can be extradited to Texas later this week, according to the Houston Police Department.
Tiharihondi's father, the Rev. Dr. Israel Ahimbisibwe, 51, was vicar of Church of the Redeemer Episcopal here. On Monday, members of the church asked a maintenance worker at the apartment where the family lived to check on them because none of them had shown up for services Sunday.
The man found Ahimbisibwe; his wife, Dorcus Ahimbisibwe, 47; and their son, Israel "Jay" Ahimbisibwe Jr., 5, dead at about 9:30 a.m. inside their apartment.
"(It) is totally out of character for him not to let us know" that he wouldn't be at church, said Keeber Wallace, a church member and neighbor. "He didn't respond to text messages or phone calls."
Wallace said he stopped by the apartment and knocked on the door but didn't get a response.
"We talked with their neighbors, and they had not seen them since Friday," he said.
Court documents accuse Tiharihondi of using a lamp, baseball bat and a hammer to kill his family. Their bodies were found in a back bathroom.
The Ahimbisibwes had three sons: Isaac, Emmanuel and Israel Jr.
Emmanuel, 17, whose last name was not immediately released, is in California at a private school, police said.
Tiharihondi graduated from high school last year and had told family and friends that he was to report for Marine training on Friday. But during the investigation, the military told detectives that they have not record of his acceptance into the Marines.
The elder Ahimbisibwe was ordained in the Anglican church in Uganda, received master's degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Harvard Divinity School, did graduate research at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and earned master's and doctoral degrees from Rice University here, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, which has its headquarters in Houston.
"This is a horrific and awful tragedy," said the Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, bishop of the diocese. "They were an incredible example and loved everyone. People's lives were truly changed by his ministry."
The diocese has established a fund for the family to help defray funeral expenses, potentially return the bodies to Uganda and pay for Emmanuel's education.
"We are all terribly saddened by the loss of our pastor, his dear wife and precious son," Redeemer officials posted on their Facebook page shortly after Tiharihondi's arrest was announced. "We continue to pray for Isaac. Only God knows."
Contributing: The Associated Press
