Evans Kosgei: Man killed wife after online threats, then took his own life

After spending weeks lamenting the impending breakdown of his marriage, to a woman he said was cheating on him with two other men,  the man ended it all by killing his wife Jackline Kimaiyo before eventually hanging himself in Thika.

The body of Evans Kosgei was found dangling from a tree with a rope around his neck on Monday, March 11, police said.

According to police, Evans, a disturbed soul whose murderous intentions he had already made public numerously, is suspected to have died by suicide Sunday night or Monday morning.

His body was found on a tree long after he had evaded a police dragnet in the Jomoko area on Thika-Mangu Road.

He was found with the identification card of the deceased partner Jackline Jerop Kimaiyo and a suicide note indicating he was equally responsible for her murder.

Evans is accused of killing his wife - in a love triangle saga - in Mathira, Nyeri county.

Before embarking on the deadly crime, Kosgei had spent weeks sending cryptic tweets, berating his wife, sharing screenshots of her alleged infidelity and even boldly tagging the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and various leading media stations.

At some point, he even posted a photo of Jackline and writing, "Rest in Peace".

Within the somewhat chilling thread of tweets, Kosgei explicitly narrated their happier times - from when they began dating in high school to starting a family.

He further explained how his wife became pregnant, and how that informed their decision to move in together and start a family. 

He later mentioned that he opted to search for a job while his wife pursued a course in Education.

He narrated: "We started dating way back in high school. She was in Anin Girls in Elgeyo Marakwet and I was in Kimoning Boys in Uasin Gishu county that was in 2016. She later joined Murang'a University and later graduated. In between, she gave birth to my little princess and I had to relocate from home completely so that I could take care of my kid and her to continue with studies without any problems."

"I used to work at night as a night guard during the day I take care of the kid as she goes to school. We agreed to be a husband and wife since we had a kid together. We lived a smooth life without problems until this year January when I got a certain job." 

In one of his X posts, Kosgei also claimed to have sponsored his wife’s education and paid for her Teachers Service Commission (TSC) registration.

At some point, Kosgei further claimed that his wife had been disowned by her family after she got pregnant with his child.

“Over the years since we started this relationship shenanigan, I have sold my property, including felling down my trees and selling my sheep, just to support her in school because immediately she got pregnant that was in September 2018, her dad disowned her,” read another post.

He further revealed that, after he moved away from home, his wife began cheating on her, repeatedly using his X account to warn her of her actions, hinting that he would soon end it all.

“Regrets come later. I wish you had rectified your mistakes way earlier in the start of the relationship. By now, we could be far better off, but you chose to do things your own way. It’s unfortunate that this young family had to die because of your stupidity," he wrote in yet another bitter tweet. 

Adding, "Men, allow me today to be a motivational speaker. Never ever take back a cheating wife.”

At the heat of his distress, Kosgei also publicised screenshots of private messages between him and his wife and those of the wife and the alleged lover(s).

While sharing one such screenshot, he captioned it, "Enough is enough!" 

On some days, Kosgei appeared to be ready to make amends as he appeared to implore her to come back home as he was ready to forgive her and forge ahead.

"Goodnight. Nakupenda but ujue bado niko na machungu kwako. Ukiwa free na mimi the more nasaau hio maneno na tuendelee. Be submisive and respect me as your husband na sio tafadhali!" he wrote in one post. 

The body of Kimaiyo has since been transferred from Karatina Hospital Mortuary to Elgeyo Marakwet ahead of the burial scheduled later this week.

Soon after the murder, a team of police from Nyeri began monitoring his movements, revealing that he fled to Mombasa.

According to police, Kosgei always switched off his mobile phone whenever he was on the move and disabled his SIM card all along to avoid detection.

On Sunday, he switched on his mobile phone for a few minutes while in Thika before switching it off again.

Police now say they are investigating both incidents of murder and suspected suicide.