Edwin Chiloba: Lover’s chilling post-murder behaviour recounted in court
A prime suspect in the murder of LGBTQ activist Edwin Kiprotich Kiptoo alias Chiloba used the deceased’s mobile phone number to pay for massage services days after he was killed, a massage service provider has told an Eldoret court.
The prosecution witness, who asked the court not to be named by the media, stunned an Eldoret court when she recounted her last interaction with the main suspect barely 24 hours after the accused, Jackton Odhiambo, allegedly committed the said offence.
The witness told the court that she was linked to Mr Odhiambo through her friend who told her that she had secured a client who needed massage and sexual services.
She told magistrate Reuben Nyakundi that her friend allowed her to give her mobile phone number to the client as she was offering the services for a fee as a source of income.
“My friend called me on the morning of January 1, 2023 and asked me where I was and I told her that I was at my rented house. She then told me that she had secured a client who wanted a massage and sexual favours,” the witness said.
The middle-aged woman, who claimed she had been forced to move back to her rural home in Kisumu County, said Odhiambo arrived at her residence in a taxi and they went to a nearby short-stay apartment.
“While at the apartment where he had booked a room, Odhiambo asked me to give him a massage which I did and then he asked for sexual favours which I offered before paying me the agreed amount of Sh4,000 for the services through the M-Pesa line of the murdered University of Eldoret student.
The woman, who asked that her identity be concealed, was testifying in a case in which Mr Odhiambo is accused of killing Chiloba, a fourth year student studying Apparel Fashion and Design.
Mr Odhiambo has since denied the charges.
The court heard that the incident took place between December 31, 2022 and January 3, 2023 at Noble Breeze Apartments in Chebisaas area in Moiben Sub County, Uasin Gishu County.
The decomposed body of the late Chiloba was found in a metal box along Kipkenyo-Kaptinga road in Kapseret sub-county on January 3, 2023.
An autopsy report by government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor found that Chiloba died of asphyxiation (lack of oxygen).
Hearings in the case continue.