HOUSTON- Son of Episcopalian Priest Israel Ahimbisibwe, Isaac Tiharihondi was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The young man accused of two counts of capital murder pleaded guilty on Monday. At age 20, the young man killed his father, mother and little brother at their apartment in the 870 block of Strey Lane.
According to the authorities, Tiharihondi beat his parents to death using a lamp and a hammer, and fatally stabbed his 5-year-old brother Israel Jr. with a kitchen knife. The building’s janitor discovered their bodies on Tuesday in a back bathroom. Although investigators have reasons to believe he killed them a week before in their Texas apartment, not far from Memorial City Mall.
Issac was later tracked to New Orleans and then to Jackson, Mississippi by the FBI and then captured. Still, Isaac’s family and friends filled the courtroom on his behalf this Monday. As Rick Watkins, a family friend said, “The person that committed these crimes is not the real Isaac, the real Isaac is the one we’ve known and love and got to say good bye to today.”
However, the judge let the accused to say goodbye to his family and even share a hug before being jailed. A few weeks before the incident Tiharihondi had told his family he joined the Marines, yet a sworn statement shows his parents planned to confront him before they were murdered, as they suspected he was lying. Police statements later confirmed that the U.S. Marine Corps had no record of Isaac ever enlisting.
Tiharihondi’s mother, Dorcus Ahimbisibwe had been worried about her son acting strangely on the days before the murders. According to his family and friends testimony, Tiharihondi suffered from mental illness, yet a professional never had the chance to diagnosed him. His attorney states Isaac’s family was highly religious and thus never took him for a proper diagnosis.
Source: The Daily Mail