Jackton Odhiambo Jailed For 50 Years For Killing Edwin Chiloba

Freelance photographer Jackton Odhiambo, alias Lizer, who was found guilty of the killing of LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Justice Reuben Nyakundi on Monday, December 16 deemed the case aggregated homicide, and it was a murder that was premeditated, planned, and executed brutally. He ruled that the accused showed no sincere or genuine remorse since the incident and that the accused deserved the death penalty, which was not, however, implemented in Kenya.

He declined to issue a death penalty and found that the time had come for a clear recession to be made in the place of the death penalty.

Nyakundi ruled that the evidence in the case favoured the application of the death penalty and argued that leniency in such cases makes the judiciary a laughing stock in the eyes of the public.

Jackton Odhiambo in court on December 16, 2024. /X

“I have looked at the matter and weighed all balances and the middle ground between the death penalty and life imprisonment is that you serve 50 years in jail for this offence," said Nyakundi.

The judge determined that the nature and manner of killing the deceased were brutal because the accused inserted six pairs of socks in the throat and denied oxygen, culminating in the collapse of the deceased.

“The killing was premeditated and was with ill will and malice to the extent that the accused used the money for the deceased to buy a metallic box, hired a vehicle to carry the body and concealed evidence “The footprints of this crime are all traceable to the accused," said Nyakundi.

Before the judgment, Gaudensia Chelimo, who was a cousin to the deceased, asked the court for a death sentence or life imprisonment. “Maybe that will appease the family, though it won’t bring our brother back," she indicated as she sobbed in court.

She argued that the family was devastated because Chiloba who was the only son in his family, had a bright future. “He killed our son brutally, inserting three pairs of socks in his mouth, yet they were friends," added Gaudensia.

Jackton was on Wednesday, December 4 found guilty of the murder of Chiloba, a verdict which comes nearly a year after the shocking murder, which sparked global condemnation. Justice Nyakundi ruled that the prosecution proved its case against the suspect, adding that both scientific, direct, and witness evidence linked the accused to the murder.

The judge added that forensic and DNA tests also showed that the two had an intimate relationship and were dear friends.

The court found the accused guilty of intentionally causing Chiloba’s death, meeting all the requisite elements of murder under Section 203 of the Penal Code. The prosecution, led by Mark Mugun, had presented evidence from 23 witnesses, including DNA profiles that linked the suspect to the crime.

Jacktone on February 8, 2023, denied his initial confession that he played a key role in the murder between December 31, 2022, and January 3, 2023. He was on January 31, 2023, charged with murder after police told an Eldoret Court that he would be treated as the main link to the murder.

The activist's murder in 2023 drew widespread attention both locally and internationally with several activists and organisations describing it as a hate crime against members of the LGBTQ community, with countries like the United States even offering to assist in the probe.

However, the case and the trial wrapped up less than two years after the crime took place, almost a record time in Kenya's judicial system. Despite the uproar the murder caused, the Constitution of Kenya still criminalises same-sex relationships and marriages.

Slain LGBTQ activist Edwin Chiloba. /FILE