Police officers who spent the better part of Tuesday in the home were however forced to call off the exhumation exercise after failing to recover the body.
The police officers led by Murang'a DCIO Japheth Maingi dug out a latrine and two other areas before finally giving up.
They were acting on a court order issued after Stephen Mwangi was arrested and charged with killing his wife Christine Ruguru and dumping her body in a pit latrine two years ago.
The officers dug out an area where the pit latrine is believed to have stood in search of evidence without success.
The suspect was arrested after residents reported that he once bragged of killing his wife and dumping her body in a toilet while he was drunk.
Mwangi was arraigned in a Murang'a court last week where he was charged with murder before the court ordered the exhumation.
Ruguru disappeared in 2016 after separating with Mwangi after the two had a disagreement and went on to have an affair with another man which Mwangi was reportedly against.
Neighbors claim Mwangi followed Ruguru who was a mother of three to her maternal home trying to mend their marriage but ended up killing her.
Ruguru's mother Damaris Wanjiku confirmed that the two had lived separately for five months and that her daughter was already in another relationship.
"Their marriage had constant fights so she decided to leave but Mwangi was not ready to move on," she said.
Wanjiku said there were plans to make the separation official in the local chief's office when she disappeared.
She lamented that their efforts to search for her daughter's body and get justice have been futile.
"We reported the matter to the police in 2016 but Mwangi was released shortly after being arrested and the police told us that more investigations were to be conducted," Wanjiku said.
Area chief James Mururi on his part said Mwangi is a jail bird and had previously served eight after being convicted in another criminal case.
The chief said they have minimal information on the suspect but that they are working with the police to establish the truth, urging locals to observe calm.
-ALICE WAITHERA