Ugandan marathoner Rebecca Cheptegei's ex-boyfriend and alleged killer Dickson Ndiema dies

Dickson Ndiema, the man accused of setting Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei on fire, leading to her death, is dead.

He died due to respiratory failure as a result of severe airway burns and sepsis at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hosptial in Eldoret.

According to the MTRH CEO Dr Philip Kirwa, Ndiema passed on at 6.30pm on Monday after he was admitted to the facility due to severe burns resulting from a domestic violence incident. 

“Ndiema was admitted on September 2, as a referral from Kitale County Referral Hospital where he had sustained burns over 41 percent of his body. During his stay, he received treatment from a multidisciplinary team in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). 

“At the ICU he developed respiratory failure as a result of the severe airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual death on Monday at 6.30pm despite life-saving measures,” said Dr Kirwa. 

Ndiema was accused of attacking Cheptegei at her home in Trans Nzoia over an unresolved land dispute.

He allegedly ambushed the marathoner as she returned home, before dousing her with petrol and setting her alight.

Efforts by the athlete to save her life were unsuccessful as her attacker continued to douse her with more petrol.

Also Read: Rebecca Cheptegei’s death: Why danger lurks for athletes in troubled unions

Cheptegei sustained more than 80 percent burns, according to medical teams that attended to her at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), while Ndiema sustained over 30 percent burns.

Cheptegei will be buried on Saturday at her ancestral home in Kapkoros, Bukwo District in Uganda.

Background

Ndiema is said to have been assisting a group of athletes train in the Endebes area, which has good altitude for training.

A number of athletes, who couldn't move to Iten and Kaptagat in Elgeyo Marakwet County for training, decided to rented houses in the town and they would meet every morning for training sessions.

This is also where Cheptegei used to stay with Ndiema before they went their separate ways. 

Ndiema met Cheptegei after she had just walked out of her marriage in 2023 in Uganda. The couple stayed together for a while before she asked him to go their separate ways. 

Cheptegei went ahead and settled in her newly built house in Kinyoro in Trans Nzoia where she lived with her two daughters and her sister before the fateful Sunday when her ex-boyfriend is said to have doused her with petrol and burnt her.