The East African Gazette
Cherotic Betty, the wife to the murdered Masindi District Health Officer Dr. Abiriga Jino is alleged to have planned the whole plot to finish off her husband, which was successful.
According to the police investigations the wife started hatching the plane after they lost their first born.
The facts gathered indicate that the couple started staying together as husband and wife in 2019, and were blessed with a 9-month-old baby, after the loss of their first born and miscarriage of twins.
It was established that the plot to murder the deceased began after Cherotic (wife) learnt about a second relationship the husband had with Suzan Atuhura in Masindi.
According to Uganda Police Forces’ publicist, Fred Enanga said, the suspect (Cherotic) hatched a plot to kill her (Atuhura), and the first attempt was by setting fire on her house, which was luckily put off by the neighbours.
It is alleged that on December, 11, 2023, she again hired one Martin Kipsang at a cost of shs2.5m, to help her kill the said co-wife (Atuhura).
On December 18, 2023, the suspect Kipsang is said to have travelled to Masindi, after receiving a deposit of shs500,000, to kill Atuhura but the murder plot failed, after the intended victim failed to appear at the location, where they expected her to be.
“It was as a result of the two failed murder plots against her co-wife, that she shifted and plotted to murder her husband, whom he accused for the death of their first born, the miscarriage of their twins, and for constantly insulting her as a bad performer, sexually,” Enanga noted.
He said as a result, she allegedly tasked Kipsang (hired killer) to find a second person, to allegedly help her murder her husband.
But the mission didn’t go as planned on December 26, 2023, when Kipsang and another killer identified as Joshua Namureng when the slain doctor woke up and closed the door upon hearing some movements outside.
The door had been allegedly left open by the wife as planned to give easy access to the assailants.
Investigations further reveal that the two contract killers returned to Bukwo, and returned on January, 6,2024, after much pressure from Kispsang for them to execute their mission.
“They travelled from Bukwo and reached Masindi around midday and booked at Valentine Guest House. She alerted and invited them to the house, when her husband was deep asleep. The suspects were armed with two huge hand hoe sticks and a knife. They found when Betty had opened the gate, and she led them to the bedroom, where her husband was sleeping,” investigations indicate.
Enanga noted that the killers hit the victim with a hand hoe stick on the head, and dragged the body to the floor, where they slit his throat with a knife, killing him instantly.
How the suspects were arrested
The three suspects are said to have cleaned the body, dressed it in a red T-shirt and blue trouser, carried it on a small ladder and dumped it 50 metres away from his house.
Enanga said the two male suspects returned to Valentine Guest House, where they dumped the blood-stained clothes in a pit latrine and left Masindi Municipality at around 5:30am.
However, both Kipsang and Namureng were tracked down, by a coordinating team of the Directorate of CID in coordination with the Elgon region, Sipi region, Albertine region, Masindi police and the Flying Squad Unit.
They were arrested in Bukwo and transferred to Masindi, for further court action.
Enanga said all the three suspects admitted to having participated in the murder and the scenes reconstructed. He said several tangible exhibits including; two hoe handles were recovered from Bulyasojo cell. Other exhibits include a black sports bag, clothes of the suspect, a bag retrieved from the latrine with a pillow cover, mopping rug, work ID for the deceased, and other blood-stained clothes.
Namureng is a 36-year-old builder of Tarobya village, Amanang sub county in Bukw, while Kipsang also known as Chesebe, is a 34year old carpenter of Roruk village, Amanang sub county in Bukwo district.
All samples were submitted to the Forensic Directorate for further analysis.
The police chief. Martins Okoth Ochola applauded the team of CID experts headed by the Deputy Director, Crime Investigations, for the many hours they put into assembling the evidence, within a very short time.
He also thanked the teams from CID, Albertine, Elgon and Sipi regions, the Flying Squad Unit, and Forensics, that were ultimately responsible for bringing the suspects to book.
New trend wife murderers
“We have also noticed, that much as women are the most frequent victims in family murders, there is an increase in murders of husbands/men by women. The wife of the deceased, played a key role in the cold blooded, calculated and premeditated murder of her husband,” Enanga noted.
He urged spouses, lovers, and families in toxic relationships, to always seek assistance from the Child and Family Protection Unit, Probation Officers, elders, local leaders, before its too late.
“The 3 suspects were remanded to Hoima Government Prison until January 30,2024