The murder of World’s 10,000 metres bronze medalist Agnes Tirop has been linked to a possible love triangle.
Tirop was found murdered at her home on Rural Estate near Iten town in Elgeyo Marakwet on Wednesday.
Police said her husband, who has since gone missing, is the prime suspect in the murder.
Agnes was the 2015 World Cross Country champion and had participated in the August Tokyo Olympics where she finished fourth in the 5,000-metre race.
Two weeks ago, the 25-year-old athlete participated in a race in Germany and finished second. She had just returned to the country with a trophy that she had yet to unseal.
Her husband went missing after he called her parents crying and seeking forgiveness for “an incident” he said he had committed.
Keiyo North police boss Tom Makori said they were searching for the husband because initial investigations indicated that he was either the prime suspect or knew the details leading to the death.
The body of Agnes was found in a pool of blood on a bed in their bedroom with a stab wound in the kneck.
Makori said interviews with family members indicated the athlete and her husband had been having marital problems, which were being resolved but had never been reported to the police.
“Because the husband is missing and because of the call he made to her parents, we are treating him as the prime suspect,” Makori said.
CCTV cameras and other items were collected from the home to be analysed as homicide detectives seek to unravel the circumstances of the death.
Makori said Agnes’s father had on Tuesday night at about 8pm reported at the Iten police station that she was missing. Police had started looking for her.
“Today (Wednesday) the parents came to follow up on the matter and said the husband had called them seeking forgiveness over an incident he committed,” Makori said.