Cynthia Chepkemoi during the interview in Nakuru.
Tuesday, October 8, started well for Mathew Letyo and his wife, Cynthia Chepkemoi.
The couple took breakfast together before embarking on house chores and repairs not knowing what lay held.
At noon, the love birds took lunch, and at 4pm, Chepkemoi visited a posho mill located a few metres away and returned home.
The day seemed to end well, with the couple having dinner together, and saying a word of prayer, before retiring to bed at 9pm.
However, at 10pm, four people stormed into their compound at Bararket Village in Kuresoi, Nakuru County, breaking the main door and demanding that two wake up and open the doors.
Recounting the events of the fateful night, Chepkemoi on Monday said the four, whom she later learned were police officers, demanded an audience with her husband without revealing what they wanted.
The four started scolding Letyo in front of his wife, but he managed to get out of the house. Three officers ran after him, catching up with him behind the kitchen they had spent the better part of the day repairing.
After a few minutes of Letyo pleading with the officers to spare his life, Chepkemoi said she heard gunshots before everything went silent all of a sudden.
Her 35-year-old husband was allegedly shot in the stomach, before the officers dragged him on the ground for 50 metres, to his gate where a motorbike rider was on standby.
“After the gunshots, I just knew he was no more. We had spent the better part of the day together. He had many plans for our family. He had plans to extend our one-bedroom house so that it could accommodate a visitor. Sadly, they took his life,” said the mother of one, amid tears.
As if that was not enough, after dragging the body, two officers came back and ransacked the house before making away with Sh10,000, a panga, and a bow and arrow, alleging that Letyo wanted to attack them.
Chepkemoi said she called for help and within no time, neighbours flocked to their homestead.
“We later learned that he had succumbed to a single gunshot to the stomach. They took his body to a mortuary for preservation. If he had wronged anyone they could have just arrested him instead of killing him. I am now left a widow and a child to take care of. We were depending on farming,” she said.
Letyo’s mother, Paulina Kipsimian, said that she received a distress phone call at 11pm from her daughter-in-law informing her what had transpired.
Kipsimian, a resident of Kongasis in Gilgil Sub County, said that Chepkemoi told her that officers had handcuffed Letyo before shooting and dragging him to the gate.
She said that the officers threatened Chepkemoi whenever she tried asking them anything or getting outside the house, with one officer assaulting her.
According to her, she informed her son, who lives a few kilometeres from Letyo, to visit them and try to establish what had transpired.
“I want justice for my son, they killed him and yet he was innocent. I later learned that he had been reported by a neighbour who claimed that Letyo had left his cow to graze on his grass. He reported the matter to the police. I do not know if that was the reason he was killed,” she said.
Letyo’s brother, Noah Chesire, said that a month ago, the 35-year-old was involved in a confrontation with his neighbour after his cow broke into their farm.
And while the police did not speak about the matter while roughing him up, his family is questioning whether that could be the motive for his brutal murder.
“We do not know if he was killed because of the scuffle or what he did to deserve such a cruel and painful death. What we want is answers and whoever did that action taken against them," he said.
John Busienei, a village elder, said that Letyo gave his life to Christ three weeks ago and since then, he has not missed any church service.
On Sunday, family, friends, and neighbours gathered at the home of Ms Chepkemoi for prayers and burial arrangements with everyone calling for justice for the family.
The villagers described the deceased as a man who had a good reputation in the community.
According to Kuresoi South sub-county police commander, Jeremiah Leariwala, detectives have launched an investigation into the incident.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation took over the matter and have since recorded statements from witnesses.
“The matter was taken over by the Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (IPOA) for further investigation,” he said.
