Kiplagat's family speaks after murderous duo get sentenced

The family of the late Benjamin Kiplagat can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the court held the perpetrators accountable.

Two men, Peter Ushuru Khalumi, and David Ekai Lokere, were sentenced to 35 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering the Kenyan-born Ugandan athlete. Kiplagat was tragically found stabbed to death in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county on New Year’s eve.

The incident occurred in Kimumu Estate, where Kiplagat’s lifeless body was discovered in the driver’s seat of his car with multiple stab wounds to the neck.

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Justice Reuben Nyakundi said that Khalumi and Lokere had followed Kiplagat, who was in his car, and then CCTV footage showed that they had intentionally killed him in a premeditated act. The exact motive for the murder was not clear but at the time of the arrests, the police had said it was robbery.

Scientific and circumstantial evidence presented in court firmly implicated Ushuru and boda boda rider Ekai in the murder.

“Your actions were cruel to a defenseless person whose life you cut short, contrary to God’s plan where God intended man to live for a minimum of 70 years,” Justice Nyakundi stated as per Nation Sport.

The perpetrators’ plea for remorse fell on deaf ears. Justice Nyakundi criticized their lack of true remorse noting, “Remorse without seeking true reconciliation is not remorse after reducing the number of years that a person was to live as was planned by God.”

Kiplagat’s family, though pained by the loss, expressed some solace in the judgment. His brother, Vincent Chemweno was delighted that they finally found peace after 10 months of waiting.

“We are happy justice has been served even though we had requested the court to sentence the accused to life imprisonment. As a family, we are satisfied since we have been served justice within the shortest time,” he said.

On her side, Kiplagat’s mother Elizabeth Chemweno talked about how her son, who started his career running barefoot, worked hard to become an international runner and the family’s breadwinner, only for his life to be cut short in a brutal manner.

“My son had Ksh8000 and an expensive mobile phone, but the killers did not take any of the property from him. Their mission was to painfully finish him,” she tearfully told the court.

Kiplagat was a high-flying athlete with a promising future. He won the 2008 World Junior 3,000m steeplechase silver medal in a time of 8:19.24 behind Kenyan Jonathan Ndiku Muia with 8:17.28 and Kenyan Patrick Kipyegon Terer settling for bronze in 8:25.14.

He narrowly missed a podium finish in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi after settling for fourth place in the 3,000m steeplechase.

He was an important member of the 2011 World Championships team in Daegu, South Korea finishing the 10th and 2012 Olympic Games reaching the semifinals.

His success reads like a book, as he also won a bronze medal at the Africa Championships in Porto Novo in Benin in 2012 before finishing in the heats at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China, the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.