Defence closes case in murder of LGBTQ campaigner Chiloba

The prime suspect in the 2023 murder of LGBTQ activist Edwin Kipruto, alias Chiloba, tried spiritedly to clear himself as the defence closed its case.

Jacktone Odhiambo, 25, a freelance photographer, is accused of killing the student, who was in his final year studying apparel fashion and design at the University of Eldoret.

Chiloba was one the leading activists in Kenya’s LGBTQ community and a longtime friend of Odhiambo.
He has denied killing Chiloba and being in a romantic relationship with him. He is accused of committing the offence between December 31, 2022 and January 3, 2023 at Noble Breeze apartments in Chebisaas, in

Uasin Gishu County.
The decomposed body of Chiloba, who was 26, was discovered stashed in a metallic box on January 3, 2023 on the Kipkenyo-Kaptinga road in Kapseret sub-county, 10km from Eldoret.

Key witnesses
Prosecutors presented 22 key witnesses in the High Court trial that lasted one year, including government pathologist Johansen Oduor.

In an autopsy report presented before presiding Judge Reuben Nyakundi, Oduor said Chiloba died as a result of asphyxia.

Oduor said Chiloba suffocated to death because his mouth and nose were stuffed with bits of clothing from jeans and socks.

When he was put on his defence two weeks ago, Odhiambo told the court that Chiloba had branded him a womanizer after he spotted him interacting with women at nightclubs.

He told the judge he used to share a room with Chiloba when he was a student at the University of Eldoret, adding that the deceased man was always angry with him whenever he saw him interacting with women.

“Chiloba used to accuse me over my obsession with young girls every time we came from nightclubs. He was short-tempered and furious, leading to a vicious argument in our apartment,” said Odhiambo in his defence.

A friend and classmate of Chiloba testified that Odhiambo and the deceased man 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 testified that they helped him load the metallic box bearing Chiloba’s body into a car and the remains were then taken to Kipkenyo and dumped on the side of a road.

The court heard that after dumping the body of Chiloba, Odhiambo began spending the deceased man’s money at nightclubs in Eldoret and its environs.

Odhiambo is said to have visited entertainment joints and hotels and even paid for massages and sex using Chiloba’s M-Pesa account.

Even the metallic box in which Chiloba’s body was found stashed had been bought using his own money.
The male DNA profile generated from a bed cover matched seminal fluids extracted from Odhiambo, testified Polycarp Kweyu, principal government chemist.

Justice Nyakundi will issue a judgment on November 8.