Chiloba wept out loud on night he was murdered, court told

Gay activist Edwin Kiprotich alias Chiloba was heard crying out loudly in an unusual manner on the night he was murdered in Eldoret.

Witness Steve Okoth, who was a close friend and neighbour said he heard Chiloba crying out on the night of January 1 last year before his body was found dumped two days later.

Okoth told High Court judge Richard Nyakundi that they lived in the same apartment known as Noble Breeze.

He knew Chiloba lived with Jacktonne Odhiambo, who is facing charges of murdering the fashion designer and student at the University of Eldoret.

Okoth was also a student at the same university.

Odhiambo has denied murdering Chiloba between December 31, 2022 and January 3, 2023.

The witness told the court that he knew Chiloba often cried and was always emotional.

On December 31, 2022 he had met Odhiambo with Chiloba, who told him they were going out to a club.

He said the two returned late in the night on January 1 but he was still awake watching a movie.

Chiloba and Odhiambo went into their house and it's after a short while that he heard cries of Chiloba whose voice he knew.

"He used to cry but this time the voice from their room was loud and although I got alarmed I assumed it was normal for him to cry and I continued to watch a movie," Okoth said.

The cries from Chiloba went on for some time before he fell silent.

The witness said the following day he heard a loud bang on the stairs of their apartment and on checking he saw people carrying a metal box, which had dropped on the floor at some pint.

It was later that Okoth learned through social media that Chiloba had been killed and his body found dumped in a metal box near Kipkaren estate in Eldoret.

Chief government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor will be among three final expert witnesses to testify in the case when  the hearing resumes on April 8 to 9, after which the court will decide whether to put the suspect on his defense or not.

During the previous hearing it was revealed that Chiloba had been adopted by an American couple who are missionaries in Kenya, who paid his fees at the University of Eldoret.

Peter Pfantzgraff, who acted as Chiloba’s father, told the court that he was shocked and saddened to learn about the gruesome murder of his foster son in January last year.

He had met Chiloba through Facebook and the two later met physically, developing a close relationship that led Chiloba to request them to be his adopted parents.

Pfantzgraff, whose missionary work is based in Mumias, said he accepted Chiloba’s request and had been paying his fees and upkeep at the university where the deceased was studying fashion and design.

The mutilated body of the student and activist was discovered inside a metal box along the busy Kipkenyo-Kaptinga road in Kapseret subcounty, Uasin Gishu county, on January 3, 2023.