From love to lies and bullets: Inside Eldoret City's darkest secrets

Doris Murei, who was shot at a GSU bar near Eldoret State Lodge on Sunday August 30. [Courtesy of her family]

Eldoret has recently earned a reputation as a home of merry-making and partying, but beneath the city’s vibrant nightlife, clandestine affairs are increasingly coming to the fore.

Married women and young women dating the city’s romantic men are increasingly becoming victims when such relationships turn sour.

Steamy affairs, money, parties and death are defining a city that hosts some of the country’s wealthiest farmers and record-breaking athletes.

In hushed tones, it is said that dating is one of the easiest ways to lose your life in the city full of life.

Doris Murei, a 45-year-old nurse, was shot several times at an entertainment joint opposite the Eldoret State Lodge on Sunday, August 30, and died at the scene.

The slain Uasin Gishu County Hospital nurse joins a growing list of women who have been murdered or maimed in circumstances that point to relationships that turned sour.

Suspected love triangles?

Murei’s case shocked the nation because the suspect, who allegedly fired several shots at her, is a VIP protection police officer, Nathan Kirwa, attached to a governor from the North Rift region.

Preliminary investigations indicate that Kirwa walked into the GSU bar and, without hesitation, aimed his pistol at Murei as patrons scampered for safety.

Murei’s family claimed that the suspect was attached to a first-term governor and expressed fears that powerful politicians could interfere with investigations.

Although Murei’s family dismissed allegations of a love triangle in her shooting, police investigations point to a different version. Police say the woman and the suspect were in a relationship.

However, Murei’s family insisted there was no known relationship between the slain nurse and Kirwa, describing the claims as a cover-up intended to derail or delay investigations.

Murei’s husband, Nelson Kamama, who is also a police officer based in Homa Bay, said they had been married for more than 10 years.

Final conversation

“My wife is a polite and charming person. I talked to my wife at 11am on Sunday and she was at home. We were discussing my child who was to report to Maseno University and that was the end of our discussion. At about 6.30pm, while I was on duty, I was called by my brother-in-law, who told me that Doris had been shot and injured,” Kamama told The Standard.

He added: “I later learnt that she had been shot dead near the State Lodge. I made efforts to travel to Eldoret and headed to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary, where I confirmed that my wife was dead.”

Kamama urged his colleagues in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to conduct thorough investigations and ensure justice for his wife.

“My children are traumatised by the shooting of their mother. Some of them are in Nairobi and another is at the university. We are grieved and I don’t know what to tell my children,” he said.

Murei’s cousin, Jackson Kosgei, who arrived at the GSU Mess and Bar after the shooting, said the deceased had been hit by several bullets, including one to the back of her head.

Murei’s uncle, Evans Melly, said he received a call at about 6pm on Sunday from one of his brothers, who frequently met the late nurse, informing him that she had been shot at a bar metres from the Eldoret State Lodge.

Melly said he arrived after the scene had been cordoned off and found his niece lying in a pool of blood with several bullet wounds.

“We are all in fear because if a VIP protection officer can shoot a citizen near a State Lodge, how safe are we? We are demanding justice for Doris and we will not rest until justice is served,” Melly said.

He said the family was shocked to find county government vehicles at Naiberi Police Station, where the suspect was being held, and expressed concern over the heavy presence.

Juma Kirole, Murei’s brother-in-law, dismissed reports that the nurse was involved in a clandestine affair with Kirwa.

“I see people saying on social media that Doris was killed by a boyfriend. How can a boyfriend kill? This is a murderer and people are trying to cover up,” Kirole said at Naiberi Police Station.

Nursing career

Murei was born at Tuiyo Farm in Kapseret Constituency and rose to become the nurse in charge of reproductive health at Uasin Gishu County Hospital.

She trained at Kakamega Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), later advancing from a diploma to a degree in nursing.

Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Wilberforce Sicharani said Kirwa was arrested at Maili Tisa in Turbo after a six-hour manhunt.

Sicharani said the suspect walked into the bar and immediately opened fire on Murei before fleeing the scene.

The bar is patronised by GSU officers manning the security installation, but is also accessible to civilians.

“Preliminary investigations on the body show that she was shot five times in the back and died on the spot. A post-mortem will show the exact number of times she was shot,” the police boss said.

“ He fled and we mounted a chase and arrested him at around 1am. He is being interrogated and will appear in court on Tuesday,” he continued.

He said the suspect’s firearm, loaded with five rounds of ammunition, was recovered.

Sicharani added that investigators searched Langas, Kaptagat and Ziwa as they hunted for the suspect on Sunday night.

Love fallout

“The suspect and the victim were in a relationship and there might have been a fallout,” he said.

An Eldoret Magistrate’s Court subsequently granted police 21 days to conclude investigations into Murei’s killing.

Before Murei’s fatal shooting, Mount Kenya University student Faith Jeptoo, 22, had allegedly been killed by a man believed to be her boyfriend at Action Estate along Iten Road in Eldoret. Her body was discovered in a rental house on August 23.

Her father, Luka Biwott, said his daughter had promised to travel home, but never arrived and could not be reached by phone.

“I travelled to Eldoret to establish why she was not reachable. I headed straight to her house in Action and found her lying in a pool of blood. She had several stab wounds on the head and neck. I passed out upon seeing her lifeless body,” Biwott said.

Jeptoo was laid to rest at their home in Marakwet East, Elgeyo Marakwet County, on Tuesday, September 1.

The suspect, believed to be her estranged boyfriend, has yet to be arrested, despite police promising a manhunt.

Moiben Sub-County Police Commander Moses Kirong linked Jeptoo’s killing to a relationship that might have turned sour. He said the door was locked from outside and police officers, assisted by neighbours, had to break in.

Earlier in August, the body of 26-year-old Lilian Chepkor was discovered stuffed in a gunny sack at Kipkaren Estate.

Chepkor’s body was reportedly found in a house within a timber yard where three young men were said to have been living.

Residents alleged that she may have met her death inside the house, where she was reportedly involved in an affair with one of the occupants, before her body was allegedly placed in a sack and abandoned.

Her mother, Beatrice Chepchumba, said her daughter had been missing for nearly 48 hours and expressed fears that she might have been gang-raped during her disappearance.

“I do not know what caused my daughter’s death. I had been looking for her, only to be told that she had been killed and that the body was discovered in a house in Kipkaren,” the mother said.

Neighbours described Chepkor as a calm woman who rarely caused trouble, leaving them questioning what may have led to her death.

Residents said the condition of the body suggested that she may have struggled with her attackers, raising further questions about the circumstances surrounding her death.

Kapseret Sub-County Police Commander Zaphania Kamren said two suspects had been arrested in connection with Chepkor’s murder.