Aston Lukoye
The expose of the CCTV tape led to the arrest of two men in Eldoret linked to the murder of Ugandan athlete Benjamin Kiplagat.
Kiplagat was found stabbed to death in a car in Eldoret on New Year’s Eve, police said on Monday.
A knife suspected of being used in Kiplagat’s murder was found on one of the suspects, Moiben sub-county police commander Stephen Okal said.
Kiplagat was 34 years old. The motive for the murder appears to be robbery, he said, because money and a mobile phone were taken from Kiplagat.
Kiplagat’s throat was cut, police reported He was found dead in his brother’s car early Sunday on the outskirts of Eldoret, a hilly town in western Kenya known as a training center for elite athletes.
Kiplagat participated in three Olympic games and six world championships in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. He won a bronze medal in the 2012 African Championships.
Kiplagat is the fourth athlete killed in the area in recent years.
Two-time world cross-country champion Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death at her home in the nearby town of Iten in 2021. Her husband is facing a murder case.
The decomposing body of Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete Damaris Muthee was found in the house of a male Ethiopian athlete in 2022. The athlete is the main suspect in her death but has not yet been arrested.
Rwandan athlete Rubayita Siragi was killed in August in what police believe was a fight with another athlete over a woman.
