A Kenyan court on Tuesday sentenced two men to 35 years in prison for the murder of Ugandan Olympic athlete Benjamin Kiplagat in December 2023, Afrosport reports.
A high court in the northwestern city of Eldoret found the two men – Peter Ushuru Khalumi, 30, and David Ekai Lokere, 25 – guilty of stabbing the 34-year-old Ugandan to death after a nine-month trial.
Reuben Nyakundi, the presiding judge in the case, stated that the two men “intentionally killed” the steeplechaser, which overwhelming evidence from CCTV cameras confirmed.
The judge added that the pair showed no remorse for the “premeditated crime” and deserved the harsh sentence that was handed to them.
“Your actions were cruel to a defenceless person whose life you cut short contrary to God’s plan, where God intended man to live for a minimum of 70 years,” Nyakundi said.
The judge rejected a plea from Kiplagat’s mother, Elizabeth Chemweno, and his two brothers, who wanted the two defendants to be given life sentences.
Both Khalumi and Lokere were arrested a day after Kiplagat’s body was found lifeless in his car on the outskirts of Eldoret on New Year’s Eve with a deep wound to his neck.
Kenya-born Kiplagat, who chose to represent Uganda internationally, is one of the continent’s best steeplechasers having primarily competed in the 3,000m steeplechase event.
His career, which spanned almost two decades, included appearances at the Summer Olympic Games and World Championships.
He won the silver medal in the 3,000m steeplechase at the 2008 World Junior Championships and bronze at the African Championships in 2012, the same year he made the semi-finals of the event at the 2012 Olympics in London and also competed in Rio in 2016.
In 2007, he shaved more than eight seconds off the Ugandan national 3,000m steeplechase record set in 1977.
