According to police, the Rev. Sekibaala first strangled his wife before pouring petrol on her body and setting it on fire.

Police said that the killer wanted the police and public to believe that she died from fire, but when the body was taken to Mulago hospital for a postmortem it was established that she had been first strangled before the body was burnt.

The village chief Wilson Mukiibi said he was alerted about the incident early in the morning and he rushed to the place. ''I found the body near the door of their house. The priest was seated near it. For some time the couple had been living in misunderstandings and fights. Immediate neighbors told me that although the couple had been staying in the same house they slept in different rooms and each one cooked their own food.''

Sekibaala first told his friend that the wife had died from a fire started by a bomb.

''After killing his wife, the priest ran to my home and told me that his wife had died from a fire that had been started by a bomb blast," his friend John Kizito said.

A sister to the deceased, Ruth Nazziwa said, "The priest has been mistreating our sister for over three years. She has always been reporting to us and we tried to intervene but he did not improve on his behaviour.''

The Anglican Church of Luwero diocese secretary, the Rev. Canon Mephibosheth Musisi said that the Rev. Sekibaala had for some time absconded from his duties.

''When the Rev. Sekibaala was transferred as a chaplain from Luwero secondary school to Nakasongola secondary school he did not report to his new station and he did not communicate why he refused to go there. Whenever we call him, he does not answer the call. He has been doing his own thing," he said.

END