Two high school students were the first witnesses to testify in the murder case of Eldoret-based fashion designer Edwin Kiptoo, also known as Chiloba, which commenced on Thursday, July 13.
The two minors, a cousin to the accused person Jackton Odhiambo and his friend narrated before Eldoret High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi how they helped Odhiambo move a metallic box from his house at Chepkoilel with no hint of what was inside.
According to the two witnesses, the accused person had asked for their help on January 3, 2023, to help him relocate from his house where he was staying with his wife and kid. On that day his wife is said to have travelled to their rural home in Siaya County for the December holiday.
Odhiambo’s cousin and his friend say the accused told them the metallic box had dirty clothes, alcohol and a puppy’s stool explaining why a bad smell which had filled the house was emanating from the box.
“Jack told us the metallic box had clothes that belonged to his friend Chiloba who lived in Mile Tisa and he was taking them to his home. We had never met Chiloba before apart from seeing his photos on Jack’s Whatsapp status and Instagram postings,” the cousin narrated.
After helping the accused load the metallic in a waiting Toyota Fielder vehicle, Odhiamabo then proceeded to drop the two at their home in Huruma Estate before proceeding to Mile Tisa but never returned.
Odhiambo’s young brother Jean Ochieng told the court that they visited Odhiambo’s house upon their return from Siaya on January 4, to collect what was left of his property but realized the room was filled with a bad smell.
Odhiambo told his young brother it was the smell of a dead rat he had found as he was packing his stuff.
Chiloba's lifeless body was found stuffed inside a metallic box along Kipenyo- Katinga Road in Uasin Gishu County in January this year.
Boda boda riders said that they saw a vehicle, whose registration number was concealed, dump the box along the road and they alerted the police.
Odhiambo is the prime suspect in the murder of Chiloba. He had earlier confessed to the police that he murdered the fashionista for cheating on him.
The hearing will continue on August 2 and 3, 2023, with 17 witnesses lined up to testify.
