By Executive Editor
info@kampalagazette.com
New Details have emerged of how former Masindi District Health Officer, Dr. Jino Abiriga, was murdered.
Dr. Abiriga was murdered last Saturday at his residence in Kijura North Cell, Central Division of Masindi Municipality.
Three suspects, including the widow, have been arrested.
What happened/Accusation
Well-placed sources say that the widow, Betty Cherotic, 31, started living with the deceased as husband and wife in 2019. Between then and now, they lost a set of twins to a miscarriage and another 9-months-old child to the Angel of Death.
Given all this, Cherotic reportedly kept accusing Dr. Abiriga of doing nothing to save the miscarriage and the death of their child. She also accused him of being a terrible man in bed.
It is important to note that Dr. Abiriga and Cherotic do not have a child together.
Given these frustrations, Cherotic started to plot the murder of Dr. Abiriga.
The Co-Wife
This was worsened after Cherotic learned that Dr. Abiriga was in an offside romance with another woman in Masindi Town. She has been identified as Susan Atuhura.
A source adds that Cherotic had two attempts on the life of Atuhura. between November 2023 and December 2023. She used two men identified as Joshua Namureng and Martin Kipsang.
The Plot against Atuhura
Cherotic first hatched a plot to kill the Atuhura on December 11, 2023. The plan was to set her house in which she lives on fire. The second attempt was on December 18, 2023. However, she did not turn up at the point of meeting. She was to be killed at a tune of Shs 2.5 million. On the day she was supposed to be killed, Cherotic sent an advance of Shs 500, 000 to Kipsang.
After the seond failure at Atuhura, Kipsang and Namureng returned to Bukwo.
The plot to kill Dr. Abiriga
Between December 18, 2023 and December 2023, Cherotic summoned Kipsang and Namureng back to Masindi. On December 26, 2023, Dr. Abiriga survived after he woke and locked the door to the bedroom. The killers were already on alert. Cherotic was on the other side giving them a briefing. However, on the January 6, 2024, the team of killers booked in at Valentine’ Guest House in Masindi. Late in the night, they stormed the couple’s residence, and found Dr. Abiriga sleeping. They picked a golf stick (golf club) and hit his head several times. They pulled his body to the floor, inflicted additional pain on him, dressed his body in a clean t-shirt, put the body on a stretcher and ferried the body outside the gate. They returned to the guest house and disposed off blood-stained clothes in a latrine and left for Bukwo.
However, the arrest of Cherotic has since led to all their arrests.
Police Spokesman Fred Enanga told the media in Kampala that the trio face murder charges and conspiracy.
