A man accused of fatally burning Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei died in hospital on Monday September 9 night.
Officials said Cheptegei’s ex-lover Dickson Ndiema has died at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret where had been nursing serious burns injuries.
Ndiema died Monday night at the ICU where had been admitted, officials at the hospital said
The death came few days after Cheptegei died at the same hospital after sustaining serious burns in a domestic fight.
Ndiema attacked Cheptegei at home in Kitale, Trans Nzoia where he doused her with petrol and set her on fire which also injured him.
Cheptegei sustained more than 80 percent burns while Ndiema sustained over 30 percent burns, hospital officials said adding the chances of their survival were minimal.
Cheptegei will be buried on Saturday in Uganda where she will be accorded military sendoff.
Her father Mzee Joseph Cheptegei confirmed that the deceased was a member of the Uganda People Defense Forces (UPDF) and hence, she will be laid to rest with full military honors.
Cheptegei said they were working with both the Kenya and Uganda governments to ensure she is given a befitting send-off at Bukwo, which is in the Eastern part of Uganda.
A postmortem on the body of Cheptegei will be done at the hospital on Wednesday.
After the postmortem, the body will be removed from the morgue on Thursday morning and handed to the family and UPDF and later escorted to her home in Endebes Trans Nzoia where it will stay for a night vigil.
“She lived there, and we will give residents time to pay her last respects and also for prayers,” the father said.
On Friday the body will be taken by road to Bukwo in Uganda for another overnight vigil ahead of burial on Saturday.
Top officials from the two countries are expected to attend the funeral.
The 33-year-old marathon runner, who competed at the recent Paris Olympics, had suffered extensive burns, the doctor treating her said.
She was attacked at her home in Kitale, where she had been training.
Cheptegei is said to have been rescued by neighbours after the incident that happened on Sunday September 1 at her home in the small town of Endebess.
She was returning from church with her two children when she was targeted.
Cheptegei, from a region just across the border in Uganda, is said to have bought a piece of land in Trans Nzoia county and built a house, to be near Kenya’s many athletic training centres.
Police said the two had been wrangling over the piece of land.
Police say an investigation is under way.
Cheptegei finished 44th in the marathon at the recent Paris Olympics.
She also won gold at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2022.
In April 2022, another female runner, Damaris Mutua, was strangled in a home with a pillow over her face in the Rift Valley town of Iten.
It came months after record-breaking long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in the same area.
In both cases, their partners have been identified by the authorities as the main suspects.
Tirop’s husband is currently facing murder charges, which he denies, while a search for Mutua’s boyfriend continues.
Last December, another Ugandan athlete, Benjamin Kiplagat was stabbed to death by assailants in Eldoret.
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