Rotich wanted to kill self over 'toxic' relationship with Tirop, court told

A witness said he found a suicide note in a book belonging to Rotich which was among items collected from the house where Tirop was found murdered.

The book was recovered along with Rotich's passport. The witness, Victor Koilel, testified before Justice Wananda Anuro who is hearing the murder case against Rotich.

Koilel tabled in court the suicide note which showed the intention of the suspect to end his life over a toxic relationship he had with the deceased.

In the suicide note that the witness read in court, Rotich had indicated that he wanted to end his life, either through a road accident or throwing himself into a river.

“There is no need for suffering in a stressful marriage, I would rather die by throwing myself in a river or through an accident,” read part of the suicide note.

The suspect had further indicated in the suicide note that there should be no burial ceremony conducted for him in the event he ended his life.

“I stumbled on a notebook in which the accused had indicated his intention to terminate his life. The note was among many books we got from Tirop's house and took to her parent's home in Nandi," Koilel said.

The items were recovered after police took them away from the house the body of Tirop.

Koilel said he handed over the suicide note to decease’s father Vincent Tirop, who then gave it to the police as part of the evidence in a murder trial.

He also revealed to the court how the deceased used to complain to the accused over his spending a lot of her money on drinking sprees in various nightclubs.

Koilel said the deceased was not happy with the manner the accused was spending the money she earned from athletics.

While also testifying in the murder trial, the athlete's father narrated to the court how the suspect eloped with his daughter in 2016, forcing her to drop out of school while in Form 2.

He recounted in court how his efforts to trace her daughter’s whereabouts were hampered after the accused cut all communication with her family members.

He denied claims by Rotich's lawyer Ngige Mbugua that he had bitterly differed with his daughter to the extent that he cursed her.

Mbugua claimed in cross-examination that Vincent had different with his daughter after she removed him from a joint account they operated.

"I put it to you that you loved your daughter's wealth more than her," claimed Mbugua.

But Vincent said he loved his daughter because wealth or money could come and go at any time.

Martin Tirop, the deceased’s brother, also narrated to the court how the accused mistreated Tirop's family members whenever they asked for financial support from her.

“He did not want us to interact or ask for any kind of help from her,"  Martin said.

Rotich who is out on a Sh400,000 bond, has denied the charge of murdering the runner in November 2021 at their house in the rural estate on the outskirts of Iten town, Elgeyo Marakwet county.

Then aged 25, the slain athlete participated in the Tokyo Summer Olympics held in 2021, where he featured in the 5,000-meter race in which she finished fourth.

Earlier in 2017 and 2019, she had won a bronze medal at World championship in the 10,000m and broke the record in the Women’s 10km road race at the Adizero Road event in Herzogenaurach, Germany respectively.

Her mutilated body was found in her house in Iten town on October 13, 2021, by police and members of her family who had reported that she had gone missing.

A postmortem examination conducted on the body revealed that she suffered neck stabs and was hit on the head with a blunt object.

Four key prosecution witnesses have so far testified in the murder trial including the slain runner’s younger sister Eve Jepngetich.

21 more witnesses are expected to testify.