Two men found guilty of murdering Kenyan-born Ugandan 3,000m hurdler Benjamin Kiplagat last December have been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Eldoret High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi ruled that both scientific and circumstantial evidence for the prosecution linked Peter Ushuru, 30, and bodaboda rider David Ekai, 25 years, since the killing of the international athlete on the night of December 31, 2023.

Delivering the sentence on Tuesday, Justice Nyakundi noted that the accused persons intentionally killed the athlete and therefore deserve a harsh punishment.

The High Court judge said the accused were not even remorseful after the incident and instead defended themselves despite overwhelming evidence produced in court by the prosecution in the form of CCTV footage showing that they had mercilessly stabbed the accused in the chest, killing him on the spot.

“Your actions were cruel to a defenseless person whose life you cut short contrary to God’s plan where God wanted man to live a minimum of 70 years. This court has sentenced two of you to 35 years in prison,” he said. mastered

The judge described the remorse shown by the accused as cosmetic, noting that from the beginning they did not show any regret or sorrow.

“The type of remorse you expressed in this court cannot be total. You intended to take the young athlete’s life. Remorse without seeking true reconciliation is not remorse after reducing the number of years a person was supposed to live as planned by God in the book of Psalm 91. You have failed to protect life and your remorse is worthless,” he said. Judge Nyakundi ruled.

The family of the deceased welcomed the court, describing the sentence as justifiable. The family members, including the athlete’s mother and two brothers, had earlier pleaded with the court to give the accused a life sentence.

“We are glad that justice was done, although we requested the court to sentence the accused to life imprisonment. As a family we are satisfied because we got justice in the shortest possible time,” said Vincent Chemweno, a brother of the deceased athlete.

the world junior 3,000m and 3,000m silver medalist was killed on his way home on New Year’s Eve 2023.

Another brother of the deceased, David Chemweno, praised the entire justice system for working together to ensure that the family gets justice.

“Justice was done to us because of the cordial working relationships between DCI, ODPP and other arms of government. Although we wanted the accused to be jailed for life, we are satisfied with the sentence handed down by Justice Nyakundi,” he said.

While handing down the sentence, Justice Nyakundi told the family that no amount of punishment will replace the life lost. He told the family to trust the court for full recovery after killing their loved one.

“The family members, including the deceased’s mother, wanted this court to jail the accused for life, but no jail term can bring back your loved one’s life. I pray that you will be reconciled by God to come to terms with what happened,” he decided.

He told the accused they have a window to appeal if they are not satisfied with the sentence.

On Monday, the 69-year-old mother of the slain sportsman sparked emotions in court when she broke down in tears recalling her son’s murder. Mrs Elizabeth Chemweno wept uncontrollably as she voiced her opinion on the sentence she preferred against two men found guilty of killing her son.

State counsel Mark Mogun asked Justice Nyakundi to allow family members to share their views on the sentence they would prefer against the accused.

“The law requires that, in such situations, we allow family members to share their views on anticipated sentences. It is in this spirit that I request the court to allow three members of the family to share their anticipated sentence against the accused,” Mr Mogun told Justice Nyakundi.

Mrs Chemweno fought back her emotions as she recalled how her son struggled to become an athlete. She told the court how she ran barefoot because of poverty and pushed to break even to become the sole breadwinner for her family.

Referring to the CCTV footage, she told the court that the accused were on a mission to kill him as they followed him from Eldoret town to Kimumu’s estate on the outskirts of Eldoret town.

“My son had 8,000 lei and an expensive mobile phone, but the killers did not take anything from his property. Their mission was to end him painfully. Looking at the CCTV footage, despite overpowering him, they continued to stab him in the chest like a beast,” Ms Chemweno told Justice Nyakundi, asking the court to sentence them to life.

Her two sons shared the sentiments, telling the court that their brother’s killing had left their family in deep grief, including his wife, who was waiting until the time of his murder.

Lawyers representing the defendants asked the court to be lenient towards them during sentencing.

“My client is remorseful and pleads with this court to be lenient with him and consider sentencing him to 20 years,” said Mathai Maina, representing one of the accused.

Early last week, Justice Nyakundi ruled that scientific evidence presented in court linked Mr Ushuru and Mr Ekai, 25, to the killing of the international runner on the fateful night of December 31, 2023.

He said CCTV footage captured the convicts following the slain athlete driving a pick-up as he headed to his home in Kisumu estate along the Eldoret-Iten expressway.

The judge said CCTV footage captured a boda boda rider standing next to him as his knife-wielding accomplice pointed the weapon at the deceased after cornering him a few meters to the gate.

“The scientific evidence that was produced before my court during the trial of this case places the two of you at the scene of the brutal crime on the night of December 31, 2023 at Kimumu Estate on the outskirts of Eldoret,” the judge said. .