101\. The Tragic Olympian Murder
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You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Into the Dark podcast. I'm your host, Peyton Moreland. Thank you so much for being here. Now, pause.

You're watching on youtube and you're like, whoa girl, you are looking crazy I am for my audio listeners And my youtube watchers. Let me give you a little rundown It has been two weeks since I have dropped an episode on into the dark That was not the plan And I am so sincerely sorry about that with all of the holidays number one that just made it difficult number two I

tore my meniscus, unable to walk, actually have just been laying in bed all day every day, which has just been so great for my mental health, let me tell you. And it's been hard for me to get down and actually be able to record. So I just kind of been, you know, I'm not going to complain. I'm

Those were the reasons why I wasn't necessarily able to get an episode out to you. But you know what? I just got an MRI done today before this. And you know I was going to come down and record to make sure you got your episode because I couldn't miss another week. So thank you for being here. Thank you for being patient with me. Thank you for loving me despite my broken knee and lack of episodes for the last two weeks.

I love you guys so much. Today for my 10 seconds, let's do a quick rundown. Haven't been playing much Fortnite again because it is down my stairs and unless Garrett's going to carry me, I can't get down. I have been coloring.

with markers, alcohol markers, which is so much fun. A bit of a learning curve, but as you know, I've just been sitting in bed. So I color and watch Law & Order SVU. Okay. That's kind of my life lately. I've been meditating a bit. Holidays were good. Pretty, pretty stressful a little bit. We got...

Had some drama at the airport, which was a little rough. I think it was just kind of like a downward spiral from there and then my knee and blah, blah, blah. But honestly, I'm ready for 2025. That's the year, right? 2025. Honestly, I'm ready for this next year because you know what? I'm just going. I'm just going, you guys. And so are you. And if you're listening to this,

You've got this. You don't have to start anew. You don't even have to make resolutions. We are living. We're living. You got this. You're loved. You're meant to be here. Let's get into the episode. Trigger warning, this episode includes discussions of domestic assault, so please listen with care. Now, when you think of the Olympics, what do you picture? Maybe you see elite athletes pushing themselves to be the best, to work harder than ever before, and even set world records. Maybe you see elite athletes pushing themselves to be the best,

You might imagine Michael Phelps tearing up the pools or Simone Biles defying gravity on the floor, vault and balance beam. Your mind probably doesn't immediately think of violence when you think of the Olympics.

But historically, the Olympics have been the target of bombings, threats, and terror attacks. And after the 2024 games in Paris, the Olympics actually became connected with one other dark thing, and that was murder. Now, obviously, this is especially tragic because the Olympics aren't supposed to be about fear and death. They should be a celebration of hard work and accomplishments.

For example, most Olympic runners just want to run to focus on the feeling of their feet hitting the track. And that was the case for a woman named Rebecca Chaptegi. She loved running ever since she was little. Rebecca was born in Kenya and she grew up there too. And her home

home was in a region that had a lot of hills and rough terrain. So when she'd go outside to run and play, she actually had to push herself to get anywhere. For fun, she'd sprint uphill and dart over rocky grounds that were full of roots and unexpected divots.

So naturally, she became very good at running in almost any condition. And when she was an adult, she wanted to be a professional runner. But Kenya, where she was growing up, had a strong track and field program. So there was a lot of competition. Now, keep in mind, this nation is a world leader when it comes to running programs, particularly

They have some of the best training facilities on earth and some of the best coaches too. But that also means the best of the best go to Kenya to compete as athletes. And even very good runners like Rebecca don't always make the cut. It seemed like no matter how hard she worked and how hard she pushed herself, she just couldn't rise to the top.

Now, eventually, she moved to the neighboring country of Uganda, hoping that there would be more opportunities for her there when it comes to running. Even though the facilities and coaches weren't quite as good, she also wouldn't be facing such stiff competition. Rebecca would be able to stand out a little more. So as a new citizen of Uganda, Rebecca enlisted with a military group called the Uganda People's Defense Forces.

And somewhere along the way, she got married and had two kids as well. But through all of this, her passion was still always for running. And as it turned out, once she got her fresh start in her new country, she proved that she was an elite athlete.

in 2010 when rebecca was just 19 years old she actually signed up for a major race in poland and came in 15th place which is not bad for her first professional run now over the course of the next decade she only got better and she began racking up wins in 2022 she was part of a global competition in thailand it was called the world mountain and trail running championship and

And she won the entire thing. She took home gold. And then the same thing happened when she ran a marathon in Italy. She won again. And once more that same year, Rebecca competed in the prestigious Abu Dhabi marathon. And she finished the race in two hours, 22 minutes, and 47 seconds.

Now, if you're not familiar with marathon running, that is an incredible time. It was actually good enough that with that time and placement, Rebecca qualified to run in the 2024 Olympic Games. So two years later, Rebecca did something that many athletes only dream of.

She ran in the Paris Olympics with the Ugandan team. It was the first time she ever ran in an Olympic event, but she hoped it wouldn't be the last.

There, Rebecca finished the marathon in 2 hours, 32 minutes, and 14 seconds, coming in 44th place. It wasn't quite her best time. It was actually slower than her showing in the race where she qualified for the Olympics. And since she was in 44th place, she certainly didn't take home a medal.

But it was still an amazing accomplishment just to make it that far. It's also worth noting that in the 2024 Games, there were 80 marathon runners. So she still had to beat dozens of people to get 44th place. It was a very good showing and something that very few people will ever achieve.

Now, as exciting as that all was, Rebecca wanted to keep pushing herself to be even faster and better. So I'm going to back up a little bit. In early 2024, before the Olympics, she decided to buy a new home in Western Kenya, not too far from the Uganda border. Like I mentioned before, Kenya had some of the best facilities and coaches in the world. And by the time she got there,

And by this point, Rebecca had established herself as a Ugandan runner and she was loyal to her country. She wanted a house right by the border. So it would let her spend lots of time in Uganda and remain part of their culture. But she'd also be able to use those advanced facilities without needing to make a really long commute.

Now, also on top of moving for training, Rebecca was also concerned about rising crime and violence in Uganda. She felt like she'd be safer living in Kenya. Remember, she has a family by this point. There was just one problem. Rebecca wasn't able to buy this land on her own in Kenya. She needed help.

At one point while she was in Kenya, she met a man who was willing to assist her. His name is Dixon Diema Meringach. Now I'll say right now, I'm not sure if Dixon was Rebecca's friend or something more because most news articles about him called him Rebecca's boyfriend. But her father, Joseph, insisted in one interview that she and Dixon were just friends and

After all, Rebecca and her husband were still married. I don't know about their marriage to know if it was a happy one, if it was open, if they were separated, or if she ever felt tempted to cheat, but I do know that she and her husband weren't living together at the time when Rebecca decided to move to Kenya. So it's possible that she and Dixon were romantically involved, but I do also want to respect her father's claims that they were just friends.

So regardless of where the truth lies, the important detail here is that Dixon and Rebecca knew each other. And after he begins helping her, they become close. In fact, Rebecca trusted Dixon a lot.

So when she needed to buy this land and he said he could help her, she accepted his offer. He seemed like just the person she needed to make everything in her life fall into place. So Dixon helps her and then Rebecca builds a new house on the land. And then once she moved into it, she got to work getting to know her neighbors. When she wasn't working out at those state-of-the-art training facilities, she was jogging on her street.

She'd wave at the people in her neighborhood, all of whom knew her as a famous accomplished marathon runner. It was honestly sweet that this amazing celebrity would just go jogging down the street saying hi to people as she passed. Rebecca also had a garden and a chicken coop. She had fresh eggs every day. Whenever she had extra produce, she'd give it to the woman who lived next door. I

I mean, she wasn't just living there, keeping to herself. Rebecca was building a community and creating a space for herself within it. Her daughters, who were now 9 and 11 years old, stayed with her. And for reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, like I said, her husband was still living back in Uganda. So at this point in Kenya, it's just Rebecca and her two girls. And sadly, life for all of them was...

slowly becoming a little more complicated instead of better once they moved. So a lot of Rebecca's new problems actually had to do with the man who'd helped her buy and build her new home.

Dixon. This was supposed to be a push in the right direction. And when Rebecca had first met Dixon, he seemed nice and supportive. Like he just wanted to help her achieve her dreams and take the next step in her career. And you know, he had something over her head, it felt like, by helping her get this land. And as she moved and she got to know him a little bit more, she

the more controlling Dixon became. He didn't want to let Rebecca make her own decisions about anything, her career, her parenting, her personal life, or even the new house that she was living in. Anytime she'd make a call about the construction plans or the setup, he would just overrule her. Dixon had no reason to have such strong opinions about a house that he wasn't even going to live in, but he seemed to want to make Rebecca feel like he was in charge, not her.

For her part, Rebecca was absolutely not okay with letting this man dictate everything that she did. So she pushed back and tried to make sure people listened to her and not him, which Dixon didn't like, of course. And it reached a point where the two of them fought every single time they talked, and

And over time, Dixon actually tried to say, okay, nevermind. I own the land that Rebecca was building and living on. He basically told her, Rebecca, you have to do whatever I say, or I'm going to take back the property and evict you.

So Dixon was actually trying to take away her home just because he didn't like hearing no. And in fairness, I don't know how much of a legal claim he had. A lot of the news reporting says he helped her buy the land, but I don't know exactly what that means. I don't know if he signed any paperwork or put up money or something else. It sounds like the issue wasn't clear cut to anyone.

Dixon and Rebecca were in the process, actually, of trying to set a court date. They both hoped that a judge could sort everything out now that their relationship had turned sour. They clearly were not coming to any kind of agreement on their own. But from the sound of things, Dixon wasn't content to just sit and wait for the wheels of justice to turn. And so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

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So specifically, as time went on, Dixon began harassing Rebecca nonstop. Whenever they spoke to one another, he'd threaten her, saying he would kill her and cut her up into pieces. On more than one occasion, he hit her, sometimes beating her. Understandably, Rebecca was fed up at this point, so she decided to cut off contact with Dixon. If you believe they were friends, she stopped being his friend. And if you think they were dating, she broke up with him.

Whatever the case, Rebecca made it clear that she did not want Dixon to be part of her life anymore and she wasn't going to move. Still, he didn't leave her alone even after she set this boundary. The threats and the violent attacks continued. So next, Rebecca and her family all went to law enforcement to file a report on Dixon's behavior. Frustratingly though, the police didn't really take her complaints seriously.

They basically said, "Hey, we'll look into it." And then that was the end of it. They didn't stop Dixon from bothering Rebecca or even have a firm conversation with him as near as I can tell. And it's not like Rebecca and her loved ones only went to the police once, time and time again, they filed reports and all of those reports went nowhere. This is all very troubling and stressful for Rebecca. She had moved to Kenya with her girls to feel safer and to focus on her career and running.

And now she was finding it hard to do both. She certainly did not feel safe. And the ongoing fights with Dixon were distracting her and made it hard to get into the right mindset to train for the Olympics. So she competes in the Olympics. She places 44th.

but her coach believed she was capable of doing much better. He had already seen her run the race a lot faster in 2022. Clearly, something stopped her from doing her best in Paris. And her coach thought maybe Dixon was the problem. He had Rebecca feeling so nervous and worried that it had actually slowed her down during the games. Who knows how she might have done if not for his influence. Regardless, a

A few weeks after the Olympics ended, Dixon escalated his behavior in a major way. On September 1st, 2024, he broke into Rebecca's house at about 2 p.m. At that time, the home was empty. It was a Sunday and Rebecca was at church with her children. So once Dixon got inside, he just sat and waited for her to get home.

Then when Rebecca made it back with her kids, Dixon picked a fight with her. The argument was loud and actually drew a lot of attention from the neighbors. At some point, the two of them moved outside so they were in public and Dixon didn't care who saw or what they thought of him.

Which does feel interesting in light of the fact that the police had failed to act on his aggressive harassment earlier. It seemed like Dixon just knew he didn't need to hide what he was doing. Rebecca had gone to the police multiple times and nothing had happened. He knew nobody was probably going to intervene. Nobody was going to take his ongoing harassment seriously. And in that moment, at least, he was

He was right. The neighbors watched this heated fight, but nobody stepped in to get rid of him, to defend Rebecca. But eventually she made it clear that she wouldn't be intimidated into doing what he wanted. Dixon could not bully her or berate her into giving in. There was no point in continuing this argument. So frustrated and embarrassed, Dixon left. However, he didn't stay away for long.

He came back later that same day, and this time he hid in Rebecca's chicken coop. He waited for her to head outside into the yard and do her chores. Sure enough, eventually Rebecca went outside with her two young daughters behind her, and they actually saw everything that happened next.

Dixon burst out of the chicken coop and ran straight toward Rebecca. He had a container in his hand and he upended it on Rebecca, pouring some kind of liquid all over her.

Now, she and her daughters had no way of knowing this, but during the short time that Dixon had been away between the earlier fight and now, he'd gone to a gas station, and there he'd bought a container of highly flammable gas, and that's what he was dumping on Rebecca now. And once he had her completely doused in fuel, he set the fuel and Rebecca on fire. He was trying to burn her alive in front of her daughters.

As soon as the flames ignited, Rebecca began to scream and run around trying to put it out herself.

Her sister was actually at her house at the time and she heard the noise and came outside to see what was going on. And right away, the sister saw Rebecca on fire and that Dixon was standing nearby. She understood what was going on and she ran over to help. The sister had a blanket in her hands and she was hoping to use it to pat the fires out. But at this point, Dixon drew a machete and he threatened her. He said he'd try to kill her if she got too close.

So the sister, not knowing what to do, backed down, not wanting to become the next victim. Instead, she ran up and down the street screaming fire, fire. She hoped that she'd get enough attention that someone else could come outside and help.

One of Rebecca's daughters also got involved, rushing over to try and save her mother, and Dixon kicked the girl away and threatened her with the machete too. So at this point, Rebecca's whole family was helpless, watching her burn alive, knowing that there was nothing they could do except keep making noise, causing a commotion. The hope was that if they made a scene, someone would hear and come out.

Now, one of Rebecca's neighbors was a woman named Agnes Barabara. That day, she was busy in her house and minding her own business. She hadn't actually watched Rebecca's fight with Dixon earlier, but now she could not ignore the sounds that were coming from outside. There was a lot of screams and people yelling fire.

That's when Agnes ran outside and she saw Rebecca running around engulfed in flames. There were other neighbors there too. I mean, the plan had worked. People were trying to get involved, but they weren't sure what to do.

Agnes' first thought was that she had to find water. There wasn't a hose or a bucket or anything useful nearby. So while Agnes was trying to think of a solution, she saw Dixon following Rebecca around and realized that he wasn't helping. He was dumping more gas on her to try to make the fire hotter, more out of control. And again, it's worth keeping in mind that he's doing this out in the open in front of countless witnesses and he doesn't care.

He wanted to kill Rebecca and he didn't mind everyone knowing he was her murderer. But at one point when Dixon is dumping out the gas, some of it splashes on him. And since he's standing close to Rebecca, who was still on fire, the flames leapt from her body to his. It took no time at all for the fire to spread across his fuel-soaked clothing.

In a matter of seconds, both he and Rebecca were writhing on the ground, screaming as flames burned them. Now, luckily around this time, Agnes and some other neighbors had got their hands on some water and they were running over to put the fires out. Now, the good news is, is that no one else in Rebecca's family was hurt, at least not physically. I can only imagine how traumatic it was for her sister and daughters to watch Rebecca burn alive in front of their eyes. But

but none of them were injured. Nobody else got burnt, and Dixon never used that machete he had been threatening people with. The first responders were able to focus on the most critically hurt people, Rebecca and Dixon. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, but right away, the doctors knew that her wounds were too severe for them to handle. She needed more specialized care. So Rebecca was transferred to another hospital called the Moy Teaching and Referral Hospital,

As soon as she arrived, her physician sedated her. She was too hurt and in too much pain to remain conscious. After giving her an examination, her doctors confirmed that between 75 and 80% of her body had been burnt.

And in addition to the wounds on her skin, there was a lot of internal damage. Rebecca had inhaled a lot of smoke while she was on fire and it had wreaked havoc on her lungs and other organs. Many of them were failing and the doctor's number one priority was getting her on life support. As for Dixon, he was in better condition, but the situation was still dire. The flames had burned roughly a third of his body. In fact, Dixon...

was also being treated at the same hospital in the exact same division, the intensive care unit where Rebecca was staying. They were right next to one another in the same building getting care from the same doctors.

obviously when Rebecca's loved ones learn this they are outraged they're like this is not safe for her to be fighting for her life right down the hall or around the corner from the man who tried to kill her in an interview Rebecca's father Joseph complained that there was no security teams or police officers stationed at the hospital but for what it's worth I'm not sure if that was true some Kenyan officials said there were officers watching Dixon's room I'm

I'm not sure if Joseph was unaware of that or if he just believed the police weren't doing enough. He said he was afraid that they wouldn't be able to stop Dixon from getting out of his bed and fleeing from justice or making another attempt on Rebecca's life. Now, Dixon wasn't exactly in condition to wander too far from his bed. Still, I have to imagine that Joseph was more pointing at the principle of the situation. The authorities didn't seem particularly interested in holding Dixon accountable for what he'd done.

Keep in mind, he hadn't even been arrested or charged with anything yet. So in Joseph's mind, it seemed like nobody still was taking Rebecca's situation seriously. They hadn't early on when she had first complained to the police about the ongoing harassment that never stopped. And they weren't treating Dixon like a criminal now either.

There were plans to indict him as soon as he recovered and was well enough to face his charges, but in the meanwhile, he's technically a free man. I also have to imagine that there was another reason for Joseph's frustration.

One more factor that had him feeling angry and powerless about this entire situation. See, Rebecca's case was not an isolated incident. She was the third female professional athlete to be the victim of a deadly attack in Kenya in just two years.

Back in October of 2021, another runner named Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death in her home. The police believe her husband was the killer, but as of this recording, he's still awaiting trial. So only time will tell if he's convicted. And then a year after that crime, another athlete named Damaris Mude was strangled to death inside her boyfriend's home.

The police identified the boyfriend as the top suspect, but once again, there has yet to be any trial. But that was three professional athletes in just as many years. Rebecca's brutal attack made it clear that there was a pattern at play. It was unusually dangerous for Kenyan women to get involved with sports and fitness. They were frequently falling victim to violent murders and attacks.

Some Kenyan leaders think female athletes are especially vulnerable because their success can draw the wrong kind of attention. Predatory men want to use them for their fame and money, and if they're told no, they might lash out at these women in anger. Others think ordinary sexism is a factor, that certain guys just cannot stand to see a woman who's physically strong, fit, and successful. So they try to punish the woman who isn't behaving in a way that they'd consider feminine enough.

Still, other people see these attacks on athletes as a symptom of a larger issue. That Kenya has a culture that devalues women and doesn't take intimate partner violence seriously. Of course, domestic violence is a serious problem everywhere, including here in the United States.

Every culture all over the world can do better. But Kenya does have some of the worst gender-based violence on earth. Studies say that in this country, almost a third of all women between the ages of 15 and 49 have experienced domestic violence. Let me say that again. That is a shocking statistic. One in three women between the ages of 15 and 49 experience

are experiencing domestic violence. And 41% of these women said the violence was committed by their current or most recent partner, meaning that the violence that they survived wasn't some long ago incident. It was part of the day-to-day reality for millions of women across the country.

Sadly, many of these women never reported their partners to the police. They felt like there was no point. They'd be ignored, like Rebecca was when she tried to file harassment charges.

Or if their boyfriends or husbands did get arrested, they'd go to court in front of judges or juries who didn't see domestic violence as a major problem. Too many people believed it was a girlfriend or a wife's duty to just put up with her partner's bad behavior and to stand by him no matter what. This episode of Into the Dark is brought to you by Wild Grain.

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So it was an uphill battle to get anyone to take these problems seriously. And that was especially true in Rebecca's case. She should have been protected much earlier. The police should have listened to her countless complaints. They should have found a way to keep Dixon away from her. She shouldn't have needed to be burned alive fighting for survival in a hospital for people to believe that this man was a threat to her.

In a fair world, she would have been free to live her life, keep training, and focus on the next race. Because of her gender and other social factors that were out of her control, all of those dreams were cut short in a fiery burst of violence. Now, as the hours and days went on after the attack, Rebecca's condition deteriorated. She wasn't getting better.

While she was in the hospital, her mother watched the children. It had been a week and they were still crying every day. I have to imagine that they were traumatized by the attack that they'd witnessed. And they were also probably terrified of losing their mother. Sadly, that outcome was looking increasingly likely with each passing day. And then finally, on the morning of September 5th, after a week of failing treatments, the

Rebecca succumbed to her injuries. She passed away at just 33 years old. A Ugandan athletic organization broke the news to the world on social media saying, quote, we are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete Rebecca early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence. As a federation, we condemn such acts and call for justice. May her soul rest in peace.

Now that same day, a spokesperson from the hospital spoke about Rebecca's tragic passing. And naturally, reporters wanted to know what's going on with her killer. The spokesperson said that Dixon was still in intensive care, but he was, quote, improving and stable. He still had not been arrested or charged with anything related to his attack on Rebecca. And within a matter of days, it became clear that he would never be held accountable, at least not in the criminal justice system. Because on the night of September 9th,

Dixon also passed away. Even if he was improving and stable on the day Rebecca died, he had clearly taken a turn for the worse. Like Rebecca, Dixon had just inhaled too much smoke. It burnt the inside of his respiratory system and triggered an infection that ultimately killed him.

So Rebecca will never get justice. The man who reportedly killed her can't be taken to court or convicted of her murder. However, Kenyan officials have said that they plan to hold an inquest to review policies and practices around domestic violence and see what needs to be fixed. Because it's not too late to prevent other crimes like this from happening in the future. Many activists in both Uganda and Kenya hope that Rebecca's story will inspire change.

that people will finally step forward and reframe the conversation around domestic violence. The hope is that if enough people are willing to say, this isn't okay, it has to be stopped, victims shouldn't be ignored or silenced, maybe they can change the way people think. And I genuinely hope that's the case. And if that kind of change does happen, great. But at the expense of who?

Rebecca? Rebecca deserved to continue to achieve goals, to live a long life and keep pursuing her dreams. Her murder might inspire change, which is great, but we can also honor her for the kind of hero she wanted to be. A person who pushed herself to the limit, broke through finish lines, brought home gold medals, passionate and hardworking. And that is the case of Rebecca Chaptegi.

Thank you so much for listening or watching today. And I will see you next week as we go further into the dark together. Goodbye.