“I Saw Them Beat Him to Death”: Witness Gives Graphic Account in Kipkaren Murder Trial
“I saw them beat Sammy with rungus while he lay on the ground, helpless,” the witness told the court.
Cornelius Keter, one of the key suspects in the brutal murder of Kipkaren businessman Samwel Ngoko Migiro, appears before Lady Justice Emily Ominde at the Eldoret High Court.
Two key witnesses today gave gripping testimony before Lady Justice Emily Ominde in the ongoing murder trial of 24-year-old Kipkaren businessman Samwel Ngoko Migiro, whose brutal killing this year shocked residents of Uasin Gishu County.
The second witness, a woman who took the stand for several hours, painted a chilling picture of how the young entrepreneur was beaten to death and bundled into the boot of a white Probox car between 8 and 9 p.m. on the fateful night.
“I saw them beat Sammy with rungus while he lay on the ground, helpless,” the witness told the court. “Keter was hitting him repeatedly with a rungu, and I recognized him clearly because he runs a bar near where I live.”
The witness described how the four accused — Dennis Kiptoo, Elvis Kiptanui, Abiud Barkutwa, and Cornelius Keter — were armed with rungus and arrows as they surrounded the victim.
“He came across the road to where I was sitting and hit me on the thighs with the same rungu,” she said, adding that she watched as the group forced Migiro’s limp body into the car boot. “Keter called for a taxi that was parked behind his bar. They drove away with Sammy inside. I saw him.”
The witness recalled hearing Migiro cry out once before going silent, suggesting he may have lost consciousness or succumbed to his injuries.
“He cried out once when they were beating him, and after that, he didn’t make another sound,” she told the court.
Justice Ominde adjourned the hearing to November 11 and 17, when more witnesses are expected to testify as the prosecution builds its case.
The hearing of the gruesome murder of Samwel Ngoko Migiro opened this week at the Eldoret High Court, drawing the attention of family members, residents, and human rights activists seeking justice for the slain businessman.
According to the prosecution, the four accused were positively identified by eyewitnesses as being among those who participated in the killing. The accused, who appeared composed in the dock, have undergone mental assessments at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) to confirm their fitness to stand trial.
Director of Public Prosecutions Sylvester Thuo said the State will rely heavily on eyewitness accounts to secure convictions.
“The prosecution intends to rely on credible eyewitness testimonies that place the accused persons at the scene of the crime,” Thuo told the court. “The evidence shows this was a coordinated and deliberate act, not a random assault.”
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