A Kenyan diaspora returnee has narrated how she survived a hammer attack by her former boyfriend in the US on her birthday nine years ago.
In an exclusive interview with The Star, 37-year-old Elizabeth Kogo from Nandi County has opened up on how her jealous lover, Gideon Maiyo, almost killed her after hitting her several times in the head using a hammer.
The two were living together in Wichita, Kansas before the incident happened nine months after Ms. Kogo moved to the US on a green card.
“We lived as a couple in the apartment, and we showed determination to formalize our relationship by his parents going to our home for negotiation,” Kogo explains.
Kogo, who worked at a facility housing people with various physical and mental problems, worked harder and began earning more money, something that unsettled Maiyo.
“I could meet all our family’s needs, including paying rent and school fees for my son, who was in daycare. This threatened and intimidated him,” Kogo says.
She says her fiancé would later turn violent and would beat her over flimsy issues.
He was also pressuring her to quit her job and seek employment elsewhere on grounds that she was working in a place where there were many Kenyan men.
Tired of the man’s mistreatment, Kogo began plans to ditch him by first sending their son back to Kenya. However, Maiyo learned of her intentions and embarked on a plan to kill her.
January 23rd was her 29th birthday and so her workmates organized a party for her oblivious of her strained relationship with Maiyo. After the party, she arrived home at night only to find her lover holding a gun, ready to kill her. Attempts to beg him to spare her fell on deaf ears as the man was determined to kill her.
“I was sweating and trembling, pleading with him to spare my life as I remembered my son Florian and my six siblings and mother, who were looking up to me for support. But he could not listen. When he pulled the trigger, the gun jammed… God had jammed it,” Kogo recalls.
Maiyo reached for a hammer he had purchased to repair some furniture in the house and smashed her with it eight times in the head before it got lodged inside her skull.
A neighbor who heard her cry for help called the police who responded in time to save her life.
After the attack, Maiyo attempted to flee but was arrested after crashing his vehicle in the car chase with police.
The officers found her lying in a pool of blood with brain matter oozing from her head. She was rushed to hospital where medics did all they could to save her life. She underwent a successful operation to remove the hammer but she remained in a coma for a month.
At one point, doctors asked Kogo’s mother to travel to the US and sign papers allowing them to put off her daughter’s life support machine and let her rest peacefully.
Her mother declined to sign the forms and chose to stay by her side and pray.
“My mum was sure if she stood beside me and made a prayer for divine healing, miracles could happen and we would walk,” Kogo recounts.
Her status improved but had to undergo physical, occupational and psychological therapy to recover her speech, ability to walk and general body coordination.
Maiyo was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with the judge ordering that he be deported back to Kenya as soon as he completes his term.
Kogo has since returned to Kenya and is now a champion against gender-based violence.
Ms. Kogo has written a book titled ‘Rescued from the Jaws of Death.’
Wow, this is very sad. May…
Wow, this is very sad. May God continue to bless this lady & May the abuser die in jail. Very sad that one would want to kill the mother of his son. Kenyan men feel very threatened in the states and are very insecure. Hahaha. If my lady is making bank what’s wrong with that?!
Don’t be fooled by that lady…
Don’t be fooled by that lady, that’s what they do once they get a job, they start sleeping with other men, that’s the nom of AMERICA, that’s why we feel so threatened and insecure, she deserves that
Champion idiot!No one…
Champion idiot!No one deserves to be clobbered to death, period!
You are am imbecile. No…
You are am imbecile. No question about that!
I was in training class with…
I was in training class with her at the job she had and she came across as a very sensible and grounded lady out to do the best for her son and family. She did not deserve what that beast inflicted on her. Everyone needs a job to live comfortably in America. His insecurities clearly manifest what kind of a man he was and still is. Despite what she went through she still managed to graduate from a state university. May God bless her abundantly as you dwell on your own ignorance and stupidity.
Good lord!
Good lord!
I do have huge respect for…
I do have huge respect for our Kenyan men but l prayed God never ever bring one in my life & get married to one of them after my former husband & God answered my pray.
“I am not racist but…… “…
“I am not racist but…… ” Catch my drift? I was wronged by a Kenyan woman, really wronged, yet I am married to another Kenyan woman. Deal with the person as an individual.
What a tough lessons for all…
What a tough lessons for all foreigners and couples in USA.
Believe me I see the opposite of this as well right here in Denver, Colorado.
Hammer got stuck in the…
Hammer got stuck in the skull. I am going to pause there and think about that.
Iam the only one who thinks…
Iam the only one who thinks that 15 years is not enough for practically, and intentionally leaving somebody for the dead?.In my opinion,the fellow should get 45 years to life
I hate to say this but most likely the mitigating circumstance was that the lady had ample time to get out of this dangerous situation.So ladies,the first time you see warning signals ,please leave.Iknow some stay to their detriment hoping that the fellow will change. In such moments be selfish and think of yourself first.You save yourself you save your kids.
So in about 6 years he’ll be…
So in about 6 years he’ll be freed and deported to Kenya where this lady is staying? What if this bastard comes to Kenay seeks out the lady and finishes the job. Dada you are not safe there in Kenya I would watch my back. This guy will be more mad that he was since now he thinks you got him deported and ruined his life. Am just saying.
@Mkenya Muamerica, I…
@Mkenya Muamerica, I disagree with your analysis sis. I believe we are a product of our upbringing, surrounding and circumstances. Our Kenyan brothers are generally good, lakini I believe our culture and beliefs have a lot to do with their odd and evil behaviour when they immigrate. I believe the way we rear our boys to be “strong, head of the house, be a man, etc..” clash violently with the ethos of the West where women are encouraged to be “go getters” and most often have more opportunities than men in the job market of human services (again, hindered by their mindset that it is beneath them to mop up and care for people, jobs considered to be lowly back home). The result: A deeply resentful man, demasculated, disempowered and unable to fulfil his vision of a “father/husband”. Akin to being castrated whilst his hormones are still raging and wanting to mate/produce children. Right there is a volcano waiting to erupt. Sad.
100% agreed. New generation…
100% agreed. New generation of men were brought up differently than we were. Women insist on raising sensitive men but don’t like them as husbands.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Probably a good explanation…
Probably a good explanation to this phenomenon. Traditional Kenyan man upbringing vs diaspora culture are sometimes at great odds and are causing family problems all over. The first scenario is the one you describe, where a man cannot accept the success of the wife. The second one is perpetrated by some women who upon securing stability in the diaspora charge at their men because (1) the same men used to mistreat/demean them, or (2)for no good reason, maybe the wife is of poor character.
Only marriages built on mutual respect and partners willing to adapt to a new environment will survive this shift in culture.
I have read and weighed the…
I have read and weighed the contents of the posts here and my conclusion is that regardless of how one was raised,the first thing is to love and respect yourself. That is dont do anything that can harm yourself first.Secondly marriage is not for everybody. Some would be better of by themselves than destroying someone daughter or son.My two cents.
Maxley, I agree one has to…
Maxley, I agree one has to have self love/respect (in the ideal world). However by the time a relationship reaches this point, one or the other of the partner is often stripped of pride, sense of identity and clamouring for validation of their very existence. In the throes of resentment, I believe the prevailing feeling is self loathe which manifests in the violence portrayed. The human mind is a complex matter and that is why, I for one is weary of the quiet ones. They are the one who will bite your head off when you least expect it because they bottle it all up to a boiling point, then…wham!
@Sukari, you are right…
@Sukari, you are right.Easier said than done,but if we constantly take stock/audit our own state of the UNION, we can nip some of the unwanted elements before they become unmanageable…
For example, dont let someone put you down more that 3 times.Corollary,one should not put down another 3 times…You get my drift.Basically what I am saying is, dont ignore warning sign,however dim they may be…
There is enough content here…
There is enough content here to suggest that this couple were behaviourally diametrical. It is clear too that patterns existed in the relationship which should never have been ignored while planning to have “marriage negotiations”.
The man had a pathological impulsive behaviour. But it reflected some reactive responses to past relational trauma, either with this current woman, or a former partner. It is telling that to the man, the presence of”many Kenyan men” was a perceived threat and not a resource! Once bitten, twice shy!
This being a one-sided report, it is not easy to conclusively know what escalated this man’s already pathological behaviour. But attending a big birthday party organised by fellow Kenyans (among them the many Kenyan men in her facility), in the absence of a fiance, isn’t really an exonerative choice of action to reassure a pathologically insecure partner!
There is absolutely no reason for that kind of domestic violence or impulsivity But let us learn all the lessons here. Could this victim have made different choices both in choosing her man, bonding with who she found, scheduling activities towards “ready’ marriage and courting him within his trauma. They thought of shifting cows before both were bonded!
That’s what my girlfriend…
That’s what my girlfriend started doing after she got a job in Massachusetts, i used to pay all the bills and babysitting for her child and we used to live together in the same house, but after she got hired the first and second job she started sleeping out with other men pretending they are workmates, i cried every day my heart torn apart but i did not take law in my hands but it was very painful, I’m sure that’s what happened to that couple, we still live in the same neighborhood with that woman. They need to be taught a lesson.
George kariuki just shut up…
George kariuki just shut up and go deal with your issues.
Wanawake pia nyinyi mtaacha…
Wanawake pia nyinyi mtaacha kukaa kama ma victims hapa. Nenda pata license, beba bunduki. Akichomoa yake, chomoa yako pia. Lazima watu waogopane ndio waheshimiane. This is too much.
Iam disgusted with some of…
Iam disgusted with some of the comments here,and Iam bitter.So, my comment is bitter as well…
You guys who keep on saying that my woman started sleeping around once she was financially stable should understand that,she is sleeping around probably because you drove her there.May be you paid bill complaining that she is not carrying her end.
I have sisters and a daughter,and would not want any man to mistreat her. Yes Iam aware that some of the domestic squabbles are initiated by women,but women rarely kill aman for sleeping around.Therefore the burden is on men to shape up.And more importantly not to treat women as property,or put too much emphasis on sex.I would assume that there are other more important things in marriage…
Like I always say, if you love yourself, as much as your woman might anger you,dont do anything that will harm you.IF YOU LOVE YOURSELF.
@Maxiley, some men comments…
@Maxiley, some men comments here have left me wondering whether they will be the next perpetrators. I do not understand how you give someone else so much power over you that you forget who you are and your purpose in this life. They really need to read your comment and hug themselves. Learn to love themselves. Walk away.
@ Mugikuyu well said.
@ Mugikuyu well said.