Student Jacktone Odhiambo – who was found guilty of killing his housemate and friend, Kenyan LGBTQ+ rights activist and fashion designer Edwin Chiloba – has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, the BBC reports.

Odhiambo, who denies the charges, was found guilty earlier this month of the gruesome killing of Chiloba, which involved suffocating him with socks, putting his body in a metal box, and dumping the box by the side of a road. Prosecutors said that Odhiambo stole and spent Chiloba’s money after killing him, which happened sometime between December 31, 2022, and January 3, 2023.

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Eldoret, Kenya, High Court Justice Reuben Nyakundi said that Odhiambo showed no remorse for his actions.

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“I have considered all factors and found that Odhiambo was a vengeful person who committed the killing of his close friend,” Nyakundi said.

The trial involved 23 witnesses testifying as well as DNA evidence tying Odhiambo to the crime. A forensic pathologist detailed that Chiloba’s mouth had been stuffed with socks and his face wrapped in denim from a pair of jeans. Defensive wounds on Chiloba’s hands indicated he had struggled to defend himself, and forensic evidence showed Odhiambo had raped Chiloba prior to his murder.

Chiloba – who also went by Kiprotich Kiptoo – and Odhiambo have been described alternately as “friends” and “boyfriends” in the media, with some reports of them being in a relationship. Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, punishable by up to 21 years in prison. The court did not make any findings about the motive for the murder.

The brutal killing shocked the country’s LGBTQ+ population.

“It is justice that took a long time to get there,” Ivy Werimba, communications and advocacy officer at galck+, a coalition of 16 LGBTQ+ organizations in Kenya, said of the verdict.

“We are also Kenyan citizens living our own lives and going through things we’d like our institutions to help us with,” she told news site DW. “This ruling is an indication of progress, showing that queer people are being seen by various institutions, especially the judiciary.”

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