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TikTok star Junior Litali at the center of Edwin Chiloba's murder
Popular TikToker Junior Litali – real name Dennis Litali
Popular TikToker using the online moniker Junior Litali has been arrested as one of the prime suspects in the gruesome murder of Edwin ‘Chiloba’ Kiprotich Kipruto.
The model and LGBTQ activist was discovered dead, his lifeless body stuffed in a metallic box dumped by a roadside along the Kipenyo-Katinga Road in Uasin Gishu County.
Junior Litali – real name Dennis Litali – has defended himself, saying he doesn’t know any of the people embroiled in the murder.
The bodybuilding champion is a celebrity in his own right and has amassed a huge following on social media.
Dennis Litali, who was Mr Uasin Gishu 2017 and is also 2nd runners up for East African body building 2022, told senior resident magistrate Richard Odenyo on Tuesday that his arrest was a cover-up by police.
The late Edwin Chiloba.
He had challenged an application made by Eldoret South DCI Chief Inspector Stephen Mumba to detain him for 21 days, terming it as too long.
Strangers
Mr Litali also told the court that the other four suspects in court were strangers to him.
“All these people being held with me as suspects are strangers that I have never met. Detaining me for three weeks will subject my young family to a lot of suffering and anguish,” Mr Litali said.
Dennis Litali (left) and Jacktone Odhiambo are suspects in the killing of Edwin Kiprotich Kipruto alias Chiloba, an LGBTQ activist and model. They appeared at the Eldoret Law Courts in Uasin Gishu County on January 9, 2023 along with three other suspects.
Mr Litali, who looked composed in the dock, urged the investigating officer to speed up the murder probe so that that truth about the incident is known by Kenyans.
The court, however, ignored the plea and allowed police to detain the suspect for 21 days.
“Due to the magnitude of this matter and the nature of investigations involved, this court will allow the police to detain the suspects at Langas police station to complete investigations,” ordered the Magistrate.
According to the police, the prime suspect is 24-year-old Nairobi-based freelance photographer Jackton Odhiambo.
Preliminary police reports indicated that the activist died from strangulation.
“Apart from the eyes being gouged out, there were no physical injuries on the body, suggesting that the victim might have died out of choking,” said Peter Kimulwa, Uasin Gishu County Directorate of Criminal Investigations officer.
Police were pursuing a betrayal angle in the investigations, with Jackton suspected to have committed the act over jealousy. Jackton is said to have been in a relationship with Chiloba, his close friend, but “felt betrayed” after ending the relationship, Kapsaret sub-county police commander John Odhiambo told Citizen TV recently.
Jackton is suspected to have had the help of his two other friends in the murder, before stashing the body in a metallic box and later dumping the decomposing body along Kapsaret-Kipkenyo road.
