Court finds photographer guilty of LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba murder

Murder suspect Jacktone Odhiambo at the Eldoret High Court in 2023. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Jackton Odhiambo, the prime suspect in the murder of LGBTQ activist Edwin Kiprotich Kiptoo alias Chiloba has been found guilty of the slain activist’s brutal murder.

Eldoret High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi noted in his judgment that Odhiambo, who was the last person seen with the deceased premeditated the murder and bore malice aforethought.

He described Odhiambo’s acts as full of hatred, holding that he planned and executed the murder of his friend who was his roommate and trusted friend who some of the witnesses revealed was his lover.

Nyakundi said that the prosecution led by counsel Mark Mugun had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

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“Having subjected the evidence to high levels of the stringent standards demanded by our law this court finds the accused guilty of murder and the same was committed with malice aforethought. The accused will be convicted accordingly,” the judge stated.

The judge added that Odhiambo had even planned to move out of their rented house days before the murder and when he finally moved out, he did so with Chiloba’s knowledge.

“I want you to reflect on your movements when you went to procure the metallic box and how you stuffed your friend’s body in that box, carried and dumped it by the roadside. You might have been destroying evidence. You had such hatred, vengeance and ill will to your trusted friend that you made sure that his killing would shake the entire world. You had malice, the murder was not justified. The murder was premeditated,” stated Justice Nyakundi in his judgment.

Nyakundi stated that circumstantial, scientific and direct evidence pointed at Odhiambo as the perpetrator of Chiloba’s gruesome murder.

DNA tabled in court showed that the accused and the deceased had an intimate relationship. Government Principal Chemist Polycarp Kweyu had told the court that DNA swabs from the deceased’s rectum matched samples collected from Odhiambo.

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“The forensic scientific evidence, the DNA profile showed that before the deceased died you committed a sexual act against nature according to our laws. It showed clearly that beyond any reasonable doubt, you were the last person seen to be with the deceased. You were with the deceased at Tamasha night club before heading home. The DNA profile places you at the scene of crime,” the judge stated.

Justice Nyakundi said that the court tried to find Odhimbo’s motive for killing his friend and it found none.

He pointed out that after the murder, Odhiambo used Chiloba’s own phone and money from m-pesa to pay the blacksmith who sold him the huge metallic box in which Chiloba’s body was found.

“The deceased’s body was found with hands tied using shoe laces and mouth stuffed with socks. He died of Asphyxia- lack of oxygen- after he was smothered to death. His prime age was cut short by the accused person’s actions,” the judge added.

The judge said that Chiloba’s body had defensive injuries noting that ‘he tried to protect his right to life but as fate would have it the accused would not allow it.’

Last month, Odhiambo denied any involvement in the brutal killing.

While testifying in his defense, Odhiambo dismissed allegations by prosecution witnesses that he was Chiloba’s lover.

He told the court that he was a straight man, maintaining that he was only a friend to Chiloba.

“I am a pure straight man. I have never indulged myself in any sexual act with my fellow man,” claimed Odhiambo who was calm and collected on the dock.

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Odhiambo recounted the last moments he had with Chiloba on December 31, 2022 before he later got the news about his friend’s death.

He said that they had club hopped from one night club to the other. Their last stop was at Tamasha, a popular club before they left for their Noble Breeze apartment in the outskirts of Eldoret town.

Odhiambo claimed that when they got to the house at around 4 am, Chiloba confronted him about the girls he had met at the club. He argued that he left the house so that Chiloba would cool off.

He further narrated that he had gone back to their house in the morning of January 1, 2023 when he found Chiloba missing.

The late Chiloba’s decomposing body was discovered stashed in a metallic box along the busy Kipkenyo-Kaptinga road in Kapseret sub county, Uasin Gishu County on January 3, 2023.

 Chiloba, a fashionista, was in his final year pursuing a degree course in Apparel Fashion and Design at the University of Eldoret.

According to the court information, Odhiambo is said to have committed the murder between December 31, 2022 and January 3,2023 at Noble Breeze Apartments in Chebisaas area in Moiben Sub County, Uasin Gishu County.

Odhiambo will be sentenced on December 16.