The High Court in Eldoret has issued orders to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to immediately apprehend and present in court the prime suspect in the murder of Kenyan athlete Agnes Tirop.
The court further directed that his initial Ksh500,000 bail be forfeited to the state. This is after it emerged that the suspect skipped court sessions for the third time.
Rotich is the prime suspect in the murder of the athlete that occurred on October 13, 2021, on the outskirts of Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet County. The athlete's death came just five days after returning from the Tokyo Olympics, where she placed a respectable fifth in the 5,000m race.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Eldoret Central Police Station police boss James Lenaso told the court that Rotich, the estranged husband and coach of Tirop, had never presented himself before him as per the bail terms.
Corporal Johnson Sanga, the lead investigator in the case, additionally informed the court that the whereabouts of Rotich remained elusive. This is despite another court order directing his apprehension being issued last month.
Rotich denied the accusations of murdering the athlete. This was after he was remanded for two years for the murder.
He was, however, released after he appealed his detention, following his other appeal to be released on bond.
In October last year, fresh details emerged on the athlete's death after Tirop's former athletics coach, Joseph Cheromei, told the court that the slain athlete feared for her life in the weeks leading up to her death.
Cheromei, who claimed to be a coach at the Iten Athletics Training Camp in Elgeyo Marakwet, told presiding judge Robert Wanada that Tirop was concerned about her safety because of an extramarital affair, which was brought to light by her manager, Giani Demadona.
According to Cheromei, Demadona informed him about how Tirop confided in him about the affair with a man who only identified using a nickname since his real name was not disclosed.
Last month, Rotich’s lawyer, Ngingi Mbugua, told the court that the suspect was also unavailable via phone call as he was unable to reach him on either of his mobile phones.
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 estranged husband, with whom they had reportedly differed, as the prime suspect in the homicide.
