The High Court in Eldoret has sentenced two men, Peter Ushuru and David Ekai, to 35 years in prison each for the murder of 3,000m steeplechase athlete Benjamin Kiplagat. Justice Reuben Nyakundi delivered the verdict, stating that the evidence presented confirmed that Ushuru and Ekai planned and executed the crime. The murder occurred on the night of December 31, 2023, when Kiplagat was ambushed while driving home along the Eldoret-Iten road.
The court heard testimonies from nine prosecution witnesses, including CCTV footage showing the convicts pursuing Kiplagat’s pickup truck on a motorcycle. The family of the late athlete, represented by his mother, Elizabeth Chemweno, and his brothers, Vincent Kibet and David Changwonyi, had urged the court to impose the death penalty or life imprisonment. However, Justice Nyakundi stated that while the loss was profound, no sentence could restore the deceased’s life.
Despite the convicts’ claim of innocence, the judge dismissed their defense as unfounded, emphasizing that both scientific and circumstantial evidence implicated them. Justice Nyakundi acknowledged that, although the men were first offenders, the gravity of their actions warranted a strict sentence to serve justice.
