In a disturbing story out of Kenya, the pastor of Ground for God’s Gospel Church in Mombasa committed a murder-suicide during a service over the weekend.

Pastor Elijah Misiko walked into the crowd as people were praying, stopped near his wife, pulled out a knife that he had been hiding in his clothing, and stabbed her twice. Thinking she was dead, he then took his own life. His wife died hours later at a hospital.

The pastor said in a suicide note that he was angry because his wife had allegedly given herself full ownership of the church. It’s not the first time he’d threatened her life.

In 2017, Misiko was detained by the police in Mombasa after his wife alleged he planned to kill her, [police commander Julius] Kiragu said. Misiko was released the following day after police said they found the accusations untrue, Kiragu said. The couple, which had four children, had lived apart since the dispute began two years ago, police said. “She had been trying to stay away from the husband since the dispute over the ownership of the church began,” Kiragu told CNN. “They had even reported the matter to church leaders but they were unable to resolve the dispute.”

It’s another domestic abuse story that leads to the death of a woman, mixed with a story of a deranged priest who drag his whole congregation into his crimes, mixed with a story of police who apparently didn’t take threats seriously.

It sounds like a uniquely awful act. Yet we’ve heard all the elements before.

