Police officers in Eldoret town have arrested a suspect linked to the brutal murder of LGBTQ+ activist Edwin Kiptoo alias Chiloba.
Uasin Gishu County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) Peter Kimulwo says the suspect, a 24-year-old freelance photographer based in Nairobi was arrested on January 6, 2023.
In a media briefing at the Eldoret Central Police station, Kimulwo said the suspect has been a close friend of the deceased.
Police believe he visited Chiloba recently and together with other individuals they were staying with, spent time together on New Year’s eve at Tamasha Club on the outskirts of Eldoret town.
“They left the club at around 3 am and headed to where they lived. When they arrived at the house, the neighbours say they heard a commotion which subsided after a while,” Kimulwo said.
“From that day, the deceased person had not been seen,” he added.
Stashed in metal box
Police suspect the deceased died during the commotion that neighbours in an apartment in Langas estate heard early on January 1, 2023.
It is also believed, the body of Chiloba was stashed in the metal box inside his house and moved out by a number plateless car that later dropped the box along Kipkenyo-Kaptinga road.
The arrested has been identified as Jackton Odhiambo.
“This suspect is a freelance photographer. He lives in Nairobi and had just come to join his friends for the New Year,” the CCIO told journalists.
Two other individuals who assisted in loading the metal box into a car are being hunted by the police. Detectives are also tracing the vehicle that dropped the metal box.
Police further say they will do a postmortem on the body of Edwin Kiptoo ‘Chiloba’, who, based on preliminary investigations indicate that he was strangled.
The body of the deceased was discovered on January 3, 2022, but it was until Thursday night that the identity was revealed.
