Joel Kiptanui Langat shot his wife, before turning the gun on himself
A retired senior police officer, who shot his wife seven times killing her on the spot, before turning the gun on himself once served as a security detail for the late former President Daniel Moi.
Joel Kiptanui Langat, who had once served as an OCPD, fatally shot his wife, Sarah Chepkemoi, in the head on Sunday night, with her body discovered on Monday.
Mr Langat, who is a licensed gun holder, shot himself in the chest in a different room. He was rushed to the hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.
According to a family source, after retiring from the National Police Service where he served in Kitengela, Kajiado County, Langat joined Moi’s security detail at his official home in Kabarak, Nakuru County, serving in this post for five years.
“After retiring from the service, he did not stay at home for long. He was called to join Moi’s team. But after working for some time, he quit and concentrated on farming and business. We do not know what led him to kill his wife and then himself,” said the source.
It also emerged in 2022, he donated a piece of his land for the construction of a Catholic church, which was completed last year, and was to be dedicated in September by a Nakuru Bishop.
Langat was actively involved in the church and on the Saturday before the incident, he is reported to have joined other faithfuls in cleaning the church in preparation for the service.
He attended mass on Sunday but did not address the congregants as he usually did in his role as church chairman.
After the service, which ended at around 1pm, he left without speaking to anyone.
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The ex-cop was also said to have been short-tempered and often kept to himself when wronged as his extended family intervened and recounted a disagreement between him and his wife in August 2023.
“He always kept to himself and was a loner most of the time. That Sunday, he sat under the shade and seemed to be in deep thought, later he went to his room and drank his tea from there,” said the close family source.
On Monday, concern arose when the couple's compound remained closed and the poultry was making noise, indicating they had not been tended to.
A relative received a call and, upon accessing the compound, they found Ms Chepkemoi unresponsive in bed.
They also found Mr Langat in another room, bleeding.
“He (Langat) told us to break in. What we found was shocking. He was bleeding, and in the other room, our mother was no more. She had been shot several times. The incident left us in shock. Ms Chepkemoi valued her family despite their differences. She hoped for the best. He never got physical. We shall miss them,” said the source.
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