More than 20 witnesses in the murder case of LGBTQ activist Edwin Kipruto alias Chiloba have completed testifying in the case where his close friend Jacktone Odhiambo has been charged as the prime suspect in the 2023 incident.
The defence has closed the case awaiting judgment on November 8.
Odhiambo 25, a freelance photographer is accused of killing the final-year student who was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Apparel Fashion and Design at the University of Eldoret.
Chiloba was one of the leading activists in the country’s LGBTQ community and a longtime friend of the accused person.
The suspect denied killing Chiloba, with whom they were allegedly in a romantic relationship between December 31, 2022, and January 3, 2023, at Noble Breeze Apartment in the Chebisaas area in Uasin Gishu County.
Jacktone Odhiambo prime suspect in murder of LGBTQ activist when he appeared in an Eldoret high court. Inset, slain LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba.
Photo credit: File
The 26-year-old deceased’s decomposed body was discovered slashed in a metallic box on January 3, 2023, along the busy Kipkenyo-Kaptinga road in Kapseret Sub County, 10 kilometres away from Eldoret town.
The prosecution presented 22 key witnesses during the one-year hearing of the case before Eldoret High Court.
The government pathologist Johansen Oduor was among the witnesses who testified in the court.
In an autopsy report he conducted at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital presented before the presiding Judge Reuben Nyakundi, Oduor said the deceased died as a result of asphyxia.
Oduor said that a post-mortem conducted on the deceased showed that he was suffocated to death after his mouth and nose were stuffed with bits of clothing from jeans and socks.
When he was put on his defense two weeks ago after he was found guilty of murder, Odhiambo told the court how the deceased branded him a womanizer after he spotted him interacting with some ladies in one of the night clubs they had gone for a drink with.
“Chiloba used to accuse me of my obsession with young girls’ every time we came from night clubs. He was short-tempered and furious leading to a vicious argument in our apartment room,” said Odhiambo in his defence.
A friend and classmate of the slain University of Eldoret student in her testimony told the court that Odhiambo and the deceased were lovers and that it was not a secret.
“Chiloba and Jacktone Odhiambo were in a romantic relationship and it was in the public domain. They were together at all social events. You could not separate them,” she said.
Odhiambo’s young brother and cousin, who testified before the Judge, narrated how they helped him load the metallic box bearing Chiloba’s decomposing body before loading it in a car before it was eventually dumped at Kipkenyo in Kapseret Sub County on the roadside.
The court heard that after dumping the body, Odhiambo began spending his money in various night clubs in Eldoret town and its environs.
Odhiambo is said to have visited various entertainment joints and hotels and even paid for massage and sex using the late Chiloba’s Mpesa number.
Surprisingly, even the metallic box in which the slain student’s body was found stashed had been bought using his own money.
Polycarp Kweyu, principal chemist from Government chemist in Kisumu in his testimony before the Judge, revealed that the male DNA profile generated from the bed cover matched seminal fluids that were extracted from Odhiambo.
According to Jane Waya, a Government Analyst from Kisumu who conducted a toxicological analysis on samples taken from the deceased’s body said that no chemical substances were detected.
Justice Nyakundi directed the prosecution and the victim’s lawyer to file and serve their submissions in two weeks.
Source link : https://nation.africa/kenya/news/chiloba-murder-trial-judgment-set-for-november-after-witnesses-hearing-4792100
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Publish date : 2024-10-11 11:47:26
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