A court in Kenya has found the housemate of an LBGTQ activist guilty of murder in the killing of the activist, whose body was discovered stashed in a metal box two years ago.
A High Court judge in the western city of Eldoret said Wednesday that the prosecution had shown that Jacktone Odhiambo suffocated Edwin Chiloba and stashed his body in a metal box that was dumped on a road with the help of his brother and cousin.
The activist, Edwin Chiloba, was found dead and stuffed into a metal box by the roadside in Uasin Gishu County in the country’s west in January 2023, an episode that prompted international calls from activists and rights groups for Kenya to better protect its L.G.B.T.Q. community.
On Wednesday, a high court judge said that Jackton Odhiambo, a 25-year-old freelance photographer and roommate of Mr. Chiloba, had planned the killing. The two were last seen walking on the staircase to their shared apartment after a night out. Afterward, witnesses heard cries coming from the apartment, which subsided after a short while.
Lator, when residents and a caretaker complained of a foul smell stemming from the apartment, Mr. Odhiambo said it was coming from the sewer, Justice Nyakundi said. Later, as Mr. Odhiambo planned to get rid of the body, he used Mr. Chiloba’s mobile phone to pay for transactions, including the purchase of the metallic box, the judge added.
“You had such hatred, you had such ill will, you had such revenge and vengeance to your trusted friend that you made sure that his killing would shake Uasin Gishu County and that his killing would shake the entire world,” Justice Nyakundi said.
DNA evidence indicated the two had an intimate physical relationship, but the court gave no finding on the motive for the killing.
Chiloba’s death in January 2023 attracted global interest at the time due to attitudes toward gay rights in Kenya, where sex between men is illegal and LGBTQ people have decried discrimination and attacks. However, the police ruled out the possibility that the killing was a hate crime, and arrested Odhiambo, who was sharing a house with Chiloba in Eldoret.
Police described finding a decomposing body of a man who was dressed in women’s clothes in a metal box after a motorcycle taxi rider saw people in a car dump the box.
Kenya’s National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission welcomed Mr. Odhiambo’s conviction on Wednesday, saying that the ruling marked a significant step toward justice for Mr. Chiloba’s family and friends.
“This verdict marks a long-awaited moment of accountability, offering a glimmer of justice for Edwin and a reminder that no act of violence against LGBTIQ+ resident of Kenya will go unchallenged or unchecked,” the group said in a statement.
Chiloba was studying fashion design at the University of Eldoret and was widely known in the country’s LGBTQ community for his fashion sense, activism and for speaking out against discrimination.
Kenya is largely a conservative society and the president has in past said that gay rights are a nonissue in the east African country.