A government pathologist has revealed that the late Olympic marathon champion, Samuel Wanjiru did not commit suicide, contrary to earlier reports.

Wanjiru, who rose to global limelight after becoming the first Kenyan to win gold (2:06.32) in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, died under mysterious circumstances in 2011 after he allegedly fell off a balcony at his home in Nyahururu, in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

According to Moses Njue, a former chief government pathologist, Wanjiru died after being struck on the head with a blunt object. He maintained that it was not possible for the deceased to have fallen from the 14 feet balcony as claimed and sustain the serious head injuries that he succumbed to.

Njue, who was speaking to an inquest probing the death of the athlete, ruled out the suicide theory surrounding the late athlete’s death and said Wanjiru was hit after he fell on the ground by another person.

“Given the height of the deceased and where he fell from was not enough to generate momentum to kill him. It was not possible for the deceased to have fallen and then bounced back to sustain such serious injuries.

“I’m convinced that the deceased was hit after he fell on the ground by another person,” Njue testified, adding that the height associated with death is 30 feet or more considering that of an individual.

The inquest had been ordered by the government after three post-mortem reports produced different conclusions on the cause of Wanjiru’s death.