- Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of Ugandan Olympic athlete Benjamin Kiplagat, who was stabbed to death in a car in Kenya on New Year's Eve.
- Police said the suspects were in possession of the knife believed to have been used in the murder, and the motive appears to be robbery.
- Kiplagat, a 34-year-old athlete, was found dead in his brother's car on the outskirts of Eldoret.
Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of Ugandan Olympic athlete Benjamin Kiplagat, who was found stabbed to death in a car in Kenya on New Year's Eve, police said Monday.
Moiben sub-county police commander Stephen Okal said a knife believed to have been used to kill Kiplagat, 34, was recovered from one of the suspects. He said the motive for the killing appeared to be robbery, as cash and a mobile phone had been taken from Kiplagat.
Police said Kiplagat's throat had been slit. He was found dead in his brother's car early Sunday morning on the outskirts of Eldoret, a highland town in western Kenya known as a training base for elite athletes.
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Kiplagat competed in three Olympics and six world championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 African Championships.
Benjamin Kiplagat (front row) of Uganda competes in the first round of the men's 3000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing on August 22, 2015. Kenyan police are investigating the murder of Ugandan three-time Olympian Benjamin Kiplagat. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Mr Kiplagat is the fourth athlete to be killed in the region in recent years.
Two-time world cross-country champion Agnes Tillop was stabbed to death in her home in the nearby town of Iten in 2021. Her husband is on trial for murder.
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The decomposed body of Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Damaris Musih was found in the home of a male athlete in Ethiopia in 2022. The athlete is the main suspect in her death, but has not yet been arrested.
Rwandan runner Rubaita Shiragi died in August in what police believe was a fight with another athlete over a woman.
