Man accused of killing Ugandan runner Rebecca Cheptegei in fire attack dies of his own burns

Johannesburg — The man accused of setting his ex-girlfriend, Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, on fire in an attack that proved fatal has died in a Kenyan hospital of his own burns sustained during the incident. Dickson Ndiema died at the Moi Teaching Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, where Cheptegei also died several days after suffering burns in the dispute with her former boyfriend, which was allegedly over land.

Neighbors reported hearing voices before seeing Ndiema pour gasoline over Cheptegei as she returned from church with her two daughters on Aug. 31. He, too, was seriously injured in the attack and succumbed in the hospital’s intensive care unit to complications from the burns, a hospital official said Tuesday.

“He developed respiratory failure as a result of the severe airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual death,” Philip Kirwa, the hospital’s CEO, said in a statement.

Cheptegei suffered burns to more than 80% of her body and died on Sept. 5 of multiple organ failure. Police confirmed they were still investigating the incident.

Cheptegei placed 44th in the marathon at the recent Paris Olympics and was well known in the running world.

Local media in Kenya and Uganda have reported that little was known about Ndiema, but that the two had not been together for some time before the attack took place.

Cheptegi, a member of the Uganda People’s Defense Force, is to be buried on Sept. 14 with military honors in Bukwo, Uganda, with dignitaries from both Kenya and Uganda in attendance.

Her death follows the high-profile killings of several Kenyan athletes allegedly by their partners, including Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in her home in 2021. Tirop’s estranged husband is still on trial for her murder.

A 2023 report by Kenya’s Bureau of National Statistics found that 34% of women had experienced physical violence after reaching the age of 15, with women who were or had been married almost twice as likely to report such violence.

Joseph Cheptegei, the late Olympian’s father, told journalists outside the hospital that his family had lost “their breadwinner” and a “very supportive” daughter, voicing concern over how the family would pay for the education of her two daughters.

The Uganda Olympic Committee had earlier called in social media posts for law enforcement to take “swift and decisive action to bring the perpetrator to justice for this cowardly and deplorable action.”