The High Court in Eldoret on Tuesday, March 18, issued a warrant of arrest against Ibrahim Rotich, the main suspect in the murder of Kenyan athlete Agnes Tirop.
The warrant came after Rotich, the estranged husband and coach of Tirop, failed to appear before the courts twice with judge Justice Robert Wananda calling for his cash bail of Ksh400,000 to be forfeited to the State.
The judge, alongside State counsel Leonard Okaka, issued the warrant with Rotich’s family and lawyer revealing they were unaware of his whereabouts.
The judge and counsel raised their concerns over Rotich missing in action with further reports emerging that the main suspect had changed his official residence without informing his family.
As per Rotich’s lawyer Ngingi Mbugua, Rotich was also unavailable via phone call as Mbugua was unable to reach him on both his mobile phones. Even so, Mbugua had pleaded with the courts to give Rotich one more chance before issuing an arrest warrant.
Agnes Tirop was found dead at her home in Iten, with her body bearing stab wounds in October 2021. Investigations into the case linked his husband, with whom they had reportedly differed, as the prime suspect in the homicide.
Reports alleged that the duo had a misunderstanding over wealth gained from the proceeds of Tirop's athletic career.
The athlete's death came just five days after returning from the Tokyo Olympics, where she placed a respectable fifth in the 5000m race. An autopsy that was later done showed that Tirop died as a result of injuries caused by stab wounds on the neck. In addition, she was hit on the head with a blunt object.
After the murder, detectives arrested Rotich, the prime suspect in the murder. A court case ensued with Rotich granted a cash bail of Ksh400,000 with a similar surety or cash bond of Ksh500,000 that granted his release in 2023.
Justice Wananda granted the accused bail after listening to the prayers of the defence attorneys.
Tirop's husband's lawyers convinced the court that he was not a flight risk, as argued by the prosecution, which opposed the bail application for two years.
However, the new development revealed that Rotich had jumped bail with the slain’s father calling for the courts to summon Officer Commanding Station at the Eldoret Police Station to give an explanation.
This is as one of the conditions for Rotich’s release was to report to the police station every Monday, with a record of his attendance kept. The athlete’s father, Vincent Tirop through his lawyer, urged the courts to compel the OCS to produce the attendance list as proof of compliance with the bail conditions.
Justice Wananda obliged to the plaintiff’s requests, ordering the Eldoret OCS to appear before the court on April 8 to explain whether the accused had been complying with bail conditions.
