Wife caught in the act: Man wipes out family in fit of rage
Rispa’s stepmother Trusila Lagat (right) and shocked Ndalat locals trying to come to terms with the Wednesday night tragedy.
What you need to know:
- 36-year-old man murdered his family on Wednesday night in a fate of rage.
- The couple has been married for 15 years and locals said they often enjoyed liquor in each other's company.
In the wee hours of Thursday morning, a man set off from Ndalat market in Nandi North to a police station 10 kilometres away.
Philip Lokoruen arrived at the Kipkaren Salient Police Station a few minutes before 6am.
His clothes were bloodstained and he had a deep stab wound in his stomach.
He presented himself to police because he said he had killed his wife of 15 years and three children.
According to police, it was a fit of rage after he caught her in bed with her lover.
Lokoruen, 36, narrated to shocked police officers how he wiped out his family after an act of betrayal that was aggravated by a brawl with a stranger in his bedroom.
He was a polite and quiet man
The incident has shocked Nandi residents, with those who knew him describing him as a polite quiet man who hardly skipped a glass of chang’aa with his wife Rispa Jelimo, 38.
The couple had been together for 15 years and regularly went out together, spending time in chang’aa dens, Ndalat residents said.
Ndalat residents shocked after man killed his wife and three children in a murderous rage on Wednesday night.
Police said he confessed to killing his wife and his three children – Ian Kipkosgei, 11, Brenda Cheruto, 9, and Linus Kipkosgei, 7 – on Wednesday night in a domestic dispute.
A police report said the wife’s lover stabbed Mr Lokoruen in the stomach after a confrontation before he fled the scene, leaving a powder keg environment in the home.
“He claimed that he confronted him (the other man), but he was overpowered and was stabbed on the left side of the stomach. The assailant escaped. He then directed his anger towards his wife and his three children, strangling all of them to death,” the report stated.
He tried to take his life
Shoes belonging to Rispa Chelimo, who was killed alongside her three children by her husband at their home in Ndalat, Nandi County.
The stabbing in his stomach, police said, was an attempt to end his own life after the incident.
“He came to this station with bloodstained clothes. He confessed to killing his wife and three children. We locked him up in our cell as we called the area chief to rush to the scene to confirm the incident,” said a police officer, who did not want to be named because of police protocols on talking to the media.
It has since emerged that Lokoruen, and his wife were both chang’aa lovers who often drank together.
Locals said he often shared a glass of chang’aa at local drinking dens with his wife, including on the evening before the tragic incident.
Albhina Jeptoo, a Ndalat market resident, remembered seeing the couple together on Wednesday evening enjoying themselves as usual at a local chang’aa den.
Shared a glass of changáa
They had even shared a glass of their favourite liquor.
“They always go to chang’aa dens together where they drink from one cup before retreating to their rental house in this market,” said Ms Jeptoo.
Though the couple always drank together, locals said, they would engage in long fights and quarrels throughout the night.
“As neighbors, we are used to their squabbles. Little did we imagine that it would turn out tragic one day,” Ms Jeptoo said.
Clothes belonging to three children killed alongside their mother hang on a wall.
Area Chief Eunice Luley, who was among the first people at the scene, confirmed the incident.
She found the bodies of the four dumped on a bed in their one-bedroom rented house.
The knife that was allegedly used to kill the three was found at the scene and seized by the police.
A bed where the body of Rispa Chelimo who was killed by her husband, at their home in Ndalat, Nandi County on Wednesday night. Her body and her children’s bodies were found lying on the bed.
Fought frequently
Ms Luley said the couple had engaged in frequent quarrels.
“When we arrived at the scene, we found the bodies of the three dumped on the bed. The bloodstained knife believed to have been used during the killing was found in the sitting room. I can confirm to you that the suspect had been assaulting his wife for a long time,” added the chief.
Chief Eunice Luley (left) of Kabiemit Location in Ndalat, Nandi County, Trusila Lagat second (right)-the step-mother to the woman who was killed by her husband, at their Ndalat home in Nandi County on April 07, 2022.
Police took the bodies to the Kimbilio Hospital mortuary in Kipkaren.
Mr Lokoruen has been admitted at Kapsabet Sub-County Hospital, where he’s being treated for stomach wound.
Trusila Lagat, Ms Jelimo’s stepmother, blamed the tragedy on the couple’s addiction to alcohol.
She said it had become normal for the couple to quarrel and fight.
She said she tried to intervene but her efforts were futile.
“I have always warned him against assaulting his wife. He was always assaulting and fighting with her,” she said.
She said the illicit brew business at Ndalat market contributed to this incident.
The suspect was being treated at Kapsabet Sub-County Hospital.
Police said they will charge him with murder once he recovers from his stomach injury.
