According to Steven Colman Okoth, a suspect in the brutal murder of college student Rose Benta Apondi, he visited his ex-girlfriend, who was residing in Riat area, Kisumu, on Sunday April 5, 2026. This encounter would unravel into a sequence of events that are tragic and deeply disturbing.
While at her house, he says he accessed her phone and came across WhatsApp messages allegedly exchanged between her and another man. The conversations, he claimed, alluded to wedding plans. The discovery, he said, ignited a surge of anger within him.
Okoth has told police that he left the house shortly afterwards, telling Akoth that he would return.
Rose Benta Apondi.
Photo credit: Pool
He disclosed that he then sought out two individuals, both strangers to him. By his own admission to authorities, he enlisted them to “punish” Apondi. The pair were reportedly handed Sh500 for the grim task.
Later, Okoth contacted his ex-girlfriend and persuaded her to step out, offering to escort her to a nearby cyber café under the pretext of assisting her with a job attachment application. Trusting his words, she set off at around 3pm, completely unaware of the danger that lay ahead.
As she approached the agreed meeting location, two assailants ambushed her, forcing her away from the main path and into a nearby thicket.
Okoth then went back to her house, with her neighbours reporting that they saw him return at around 4pm.
Suspect Colman Okoth at the Kanyakwar scene in Kisumu on April 12, 2026, after leading police to the site where the body of 21-year-old Riat college student Rose Benta Apondi was discovered.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
He further stated that he used Apondi’s phone to send a WhatsApp message to her sister, informing her of the incident. Another message was sent to her current boyfriend. Thereafter, he fled the scene.
Six days later, Okoth would lead police to the lifeless and decomposed body of Apondi. Up until this point, her family had hoped they would find her alive.
Apondi's family receives strange calls
Apondi, a 21-year-old second-year student at the Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology (RIAT), Kisumu, was reported missing following a series of strange WhatsApp calls and messages sent from her phone to her elder sister.
According to detectives probing the case, Apondi’s phone was then traced to a compound belonging to Compassionate Family Carers in Kisumu’s Milimani Estate, where the suspect works.
“We visited the scene and although we did not recover the phone at that time, we found the suspect and arrested him for questioning,” a detectives told the Nation .
At first, Okoth denied any knowledge of the young woman’s disappearance. However, the investigation took a decisive turn on Sunday when police retrieved Apondi's phone from a septic tank within the same compound.
“We returned to the station and, upon further interrogation, the suspect confessed to involvement in the girl’s disappearance and death. He also agreed to lead us to the location where the body was dumped,” the officer added.
Suspect Colman Okoth leads police to the site where the body of 21-year-old Riat college student Rose Benta Apondi was discovered.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Police officers carry the decomposing body of missing 21-year-old Riat college student Rose Benta Apondi on April 12, 2026.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Tragically, Apondi’s remains showed signs of mauling by wild animals. It was moved to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary where a post-mortem will be done.
Detectives spent hours combing the scene for a knife believed to have been used in the killing, but their efforts proved futile. The alleged murder weapon is said to have been taken from Apondi's house.
In an earlier interview, the victim’s elder sister, Dorine Achieng, recounted the unsettling moments that first signalled danger. On Sunday evening, she received a series of unusual WhatsApp calls and messages from her younger sister’s phone.
One call came in at approximately 6:21pm, but before she could answer, it was abruptly disconnected. When she attempted to call back, no one picked up. Moments later, she received a single crying emoji on WhatsApp.
Alarmed, her sister tried calling repeatedly.
“I tried to reach her several times, but the phone stayed off. By 9pm, I gave up and went to bed, hoping we would speak the following day,” Achieng said.
In the morning, Achieng awoke to multiple missed WhatsApp calls from her sister’s phone, logged between 12:53 am and 1:09 am. There was also a long message, one that would deepen the family’s anguish.
In it, Apondi claimed she was in grave trouble and urgently needed help. She alleged that a man had picked her up, spiked her drink, offered her bhang and alcohol and sexually assaulted her. The message further stated that her attempts to reach both her elder sister and her class representative had been unsuccessful.
Fearing the worst, Achieng went to her sister’s rental house at RIAT, only to find it locked from the outside. Neighbours revealed that her ex-boyfriend had been seen at the house that morning. He reportedly left, only to return later at around 4pm.
“We immediately reported her as a missing person at RIAT Police Station, but we were referred to Maseno Police Station, where the case was formally recorded under OB: 07/06/04/2026,” said Michael Bondo, the victim’s cousin.
The family also disclosed that prior to her death, Apondi disclosed that Okoth had been violent. Achieng further revealed that her sister had confided in her about receiving threats from the ex-boyfriend after deciding to walk away from the relationship.
