Man and his two children killed in Rongai

A family in Rongai, Kajiado County is crying for justice following the gruesome murder of their kin and his two children.

When The Standard visited the family of Paul Lagat in their home, they were yet to come to terms with the triple murder.

According to Lagat, unknown people killed his son Amos Kirwa and his two children: eight-year-old Elizabeth Chepkurui and five-year-old Kiprotich Lagat on Saturday night.

"We are in deep grief for losing three family members at a go. It is not easy. My son and my grandchildren were murdered in cold blood for reasons we don't know," said Lagat.

The family's house is a few meters from Kirwa's house and they suspect that he may have been drugged since they did not hear any commotion on the fateful night.

Passers-by discovered Kirwa's body at his father's plot adjacent to their residential home, who would later inform the family.

The children's bodies were found in their father's bed with their throats slit.

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Police say that they have recovered a knife they suspect was used to commit the murders.

The deceased's close friend Kennedy Mulinge was among the people who loaded the body on the police vehicle.

According to Mulinge, Kirwa's body had deep cuts, his right leg was broken and neck slit.

"We were woken up by our neighbours who found his body in my next plot. But we can't comprehend how the murderers executed the plan without us noticing any commotion that might have ensued,'' Catherine Lagat, the deceased sister told The Standard. "Even his door and our gate were closed."

According to his brother, Felix Lagat, Kirwa did not have issues with anyone, describing him as a jovial and accommodating person.

"We are asking the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to speed up the investigation and bring the perpetrators to book," he said.

Details from Kirwa's passport show that he travelled to Qatar on December 4, 2022, in search of greener pastures.

He separated from his wife a day after returning to the country on May 12, 2023.

''I had been processing his travel documents that were at an advanced stage to travel to Czech after he failed to secure a job in Qatar,'' said Lagat.

Lagat says Kirwa and his wife Deborah Cherop had marital differences and he believes his son's lack of employment may have led to their separation.

"She called me a few hours before Kirwa landed and notified me that she will be quitting the marriage immediately after he returns complaining that she cannot afford to stay with an unemployed man,'' he disclosed. "She separated from my son the following day after arriving. My son helped her pack her belongings.''

According to Lagat, his grandchildren would visit their father during weekends since they have moved with their mother to a nearby estate.

Police arrested Cherop in connection with the murder and she was arraigned in court on Monday, where she was charged with the murder of the three.

Investigators sought to hold her for more days to conclude the investigation with the courts granting them five days, she is due in court on Friday.

The post-mortem reports of the 31-year-old and his children show that they died as a result of bleeding after their throats were slit.