In a chilling twist to the murder case of Masindi district health officer Dr. Jino Abiriga, his widow, Betty Cherotic, has reportedly confessed to orchestrating the heinous crime due to personal reasons, including jealousy and a sense of rivalry.
Cherotic, who has been in police custody for a week, shocked investigators with her admission that one of the motives behind hiring hitmen was the constant ridicule she faced from her late husband. According to sources, Abiriga had allegedly compared her unfavorably to Susan Atuhura, a woman he was reportedly dating.
“I first wanted to kill Susan Atuhura because she is the woman he was dating and compared her to me. We failed to kill the woman through arson and we also missed killing her at a place she frequented. We then turned the mission to my husband,” Cherotic revealed to detectives.
Martin Kipsang, hired for Shs 2.5 million to kill Atuhura, was then tasked by Cherotic to find another person, leading to the involvement of Joshua Namureng.
“Susan first left the door open for us to enter and kill her husband, but our first attempt did not succeed as the man heard us walking outside. He woke up to tighten the door and windows and he noticed the door was opened and he firmly closed it,” Kipsang explained.
On January 6, Cherotic allegedly facilitated their entry, and they attacked Abiriga while he was asleep, using a hoe handle.
“We cleaned the house and put his blood-soaked night suit in a bag. We dressed him (his body) in a red T-shirt and blue trousers. We carried the body on the stretcher and placed it outside in the neighbour’s compound,” Kipsang detailed.
Investigations revealed that Atuhura, identified as Abiriga's alleged side lover, had survived two previous attempts on her life orchestrated by Cherotic. All three, Cherotic, Kipsang, and Namureng, admitted their involvement in the murder. Cherotic accused Abiriga of causing the death of their first child and blamed him for a previous miscarriage of their twins.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga stated, “Cherotic accuses her husband of causing the death of their first child and the miscarriage of their twins. She has also told us that the killers spent the night at Valentines Guest house before she opened for them the house to kill her husband.”
The investigation, conducted in collaboration with the flying squad unit, resulted in the arrest of Kipsang and Namureng in Bukwo district. Blood-stained clothes belonging to the victim were discovered dumped in a pit latrine at the guesthouse, along with a small bag containing the deceased's ID. Cherotic and Abiriga had a nine-month-old baby, having previously lost their first child and experiencing a twins miscarriage. The shocking details of the case continue to unfold as the legal proceedings proceed.
