Details emerge about Ugandan family murdered in US

A teenager killed his pastor father, Sunday school teacher mother and five-year-old brother after his parents found out he had lied about joining the Marines, according to authorities.

Isaac Tiharihondi, from Houston, Texas, was arrested and charged with capital murder after police found him Jackson, Mississippi around 2.30am on Wednesday.

His arrest comes two days after the bodies of Episcopalian Reverend Dr. Israel Ahimbisibwe, his wife Dorcus and their son, Israel Jr., were found stacked up inside their Houston apartment.

Isaac Tiharihondi used items including a bat, a hammer and a lamp to beat his parents to death, while his little brother had been stabbed with a kitchen knife, according to the criminal complaint.

Tiharihondi had told friends and family that he had joined the Marines and was leaving at the end of the month - but his parents did not believe him and planned to confront him about it, ABC13 reported.

Recruiters in Houston said there is no record of him ever enlisting in the Marines.
Family members and friends said the latest they heard from the couple was Tuesday January 27.

After the murders, friends said that Tiharihondi seemed normal. He went to lunch with a friend and made an apparently fake phone call to his mother, who was already dead, ABC13 reported.  

Recruiters in Houston said there is no record of him ever enlisting in the Marines.

Family members and friends said the latest they heard from the couple was Tuesday January 27.

After the murders, friends said that Tiharihondi seemed normal. He went to lunch with a friend and made an apparently fake phone call to his mother, who was already dead, ABC13 reported.
Neighbors said they last saw him at the home on Friday evening but had not seen him since.

He is now awaiting extradition back to Harris County.

Isaac, who graduated from Memorial High School last year, shared the apartment with his parents and little brother, who they called 'Jay', KPRC reported.

The couple's third son, Emmanuel, 17, was at his private school in California at the time.

Their bodies were found in a back bedroom by firefighters on Monday morning after parishioners raised the alarm when they failed to turn up to church on Sunday.
It is not yet clear how long the bodies had been inside the home, and the results of their autopsies have not yet been released.

Parishioner Keever Wallace told the channel on Monday that he and his wife Brooke had visited the family's apartment on Sunday but when they knocked, they received no answer.  

'He didn't show up for church yesterday afternoon, which is totally out of character for them not to let us know, and didn't respond to text or phone calls,' Wallace added.

Concerned, Brooke Wallace spoke to an apartment manager on Monday and firefighters were let inside. The bodies were found stacked up inside, according to sources.

The family died from fatal blows, sources told KPRC. No signs of forced entry were found.   

The Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal's website says the vicar was from Uganda and had studied at Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard University Divinity School and Rice University.

Dorcus Ahimbisibwe was a Sunday school teacher at The Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal, according to KTRK.  

In a statement, the Episcopalian Bishop of Texas, Bishop C. Andrew Doyle, said: 'This is a horrific and awful tragedy. We are in touch with the police and Israel's family here in Houston.

'Please keep the Ahimbisibwe and Redeemer families in your prayers.'

A prayer service was held for the family on Tuesday evening.  Daily Mail