Detectives in Uasin Gishu County have launched a probe to ascertain circumstances under which Eldoret-based fashion designer and LGBTQ+ activist Edwin Kiptoo alias Chiloba died.
The decomposing body of Chiloba was discovered stashed in a metal box that was dropped by a number plate less vehicle along Kipekenyo-Kaptinga road on the outskirts of Eldoet town on January 3, 2023.
But even as the probe continues, police believe the fashion designer might have died while at his rental house in Langas area on the outskirts of Eldoret town.
Uasin Gishu County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) Peter Kimulwo says preliminary reports suggest he might have died on January 1, 2023.
Commotion at apartment
Kimulwo in a media briefing at his office in Eldoret said initial reports from neighbors where the deceased lived say he arrived early on January 1, 2022, after a night out with friends at Tamasha Club.
“From the information that we have, when they arrived at the house at around 3.00 am, there was commotion and cries that stopped after a while. Neigbours thought they were drunk and hence did not bother to check what was happening. In the morning, nothing happened but from that day the deceased had not been seen,” explained the CCIO.
However, two days later, neigbours have told the police that a vehicle arrived at the apartment where Chiloba was living and three people, among them a suspect that was arrested on Friday loaded a metal box on it.
The metal box is believed to be the one that was later in the day dropped along the Kipkenyo-Kaptinga road.
According to the CCIO, Chiloba might have died during the commotion that neighbors heard. They also suspect the individuals that he was with stashed the body on the metal box.
“Confidential information that we have indicate that the neighbors had raised an alarm that there was foul smell from the house and one of the suspects when asked said it was a dead rat. The neighbors believed that explanation. But it appears the smell was of the decomposing body,” said Kimulwo.
Prime suspect
Police are now interrogating 24-year-old Jackton Odhiambo who has been named as a prime suspect in the LGBTQ+ activist’s death. It is believed Odhiambo, a Nairobi-based freelance photographer has been a close friend of the deceased.
Two other indivuals that were staying with Chiloba are also being hunted by the police.
Police say the deceased lived in one of the rental houses at Noble Breeze Plaza opposite
