Court told how cop shot estranged husband 12 times in cold blood

A female police officer shot her estranged husband 12 times, leaving his lifeless body in the house before turning herself in, Eldoret High Court heard yesterday.

Duty officer in-charge of armory at the Eldoret Central Police Station Bernard Ouma, attached to Turbo Police Station, told the court that Lilian Biwott, turned up at the station looking disturbed without the AK 47 rifle.

He was testifying in a case where Biwot  is charged in connection with the murder of her husband Edwin Kipchumba on October 14, 2023 at Kimumu estate along the Eldoret-Iten road in Uasin Gishu. Biwott  was attached to the Critical Infrastructure Police Unit stationed at the Kenya Bureau of Standards Eldoret branch.

Ouma told the court he signed the said rifle to Biwott on the material evening she is said to have used the same to kill her husband in cold blood.

“When I asked her what she was doing at the police station and not  her station of work, she told me she had shot her husband several times following a quarrel in their Kimumu rental house and she did not know his fate,” Ouma narrated. Officer told the Presiding Judge Reuben Nyakundi that when he asked the accused about the whereabouts of the rifle, she said she had hidden it in a nearby bush.

“I told her that before we could listen to her story, we needed to know the status of the gun. I then asked her to show me where she had hidden the rifle and she obliged and took me to the said bush where we recovered it,” Ouma added.

Another State witness, Police Constable Noela Cheruiyot,  revealed to the court that her colleague Biwott had confided in her about her toxic marriage. “Although Biwott was secretive about her marriage, she opened up to me one day, saying her marriage was facing turmoil due frequent quarrels with husband over accusation of infidelity,” said Cheruiyot.

Court further heard that  efforts by the accused to seek help from both family members and even church elders hit a snag.

Cheruiyot  said that Biwott used to tell her how her late husband used to accuse her of cheating on him and threatening to kill her on several occasions.

Biwott is being held at Eldoret Women GK Remand Prison after she was denied bond on security grounds and has since denied the murder charge.

Case was adjourned until March 10 and 11 for further hearing.