Suspect in Fatal Gas Attack on Olympian Also Dies

The ex-boyfriend accused of killing Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei in a gas attack has died from burns he allegedly sustained at the same time. Dickson Ndiema, 32, died Monday in the intensive care unit of Kenya's Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, to which he and Cheptegei were taken Sept. 1. Ndiema allegedly hid in Cheptegei's home before dousing her with gasoline and setting her alight. She died Thursday with burns to more than 80% of her body. Gas also splashed onto Ndiema, who suffered burns to more than 40% of his body, per the BBC. "He developed respiratory failure as a result of the severe airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual death," the hospital said.

Before Ndiema died, police had been preparing to charge him with Cheptegei's murder, the New York Times reports. Police believe the attack stemmed from "a dispute over ownership of the land one of them had bought," officials tell the Daily Beast. Now, "the criminal case has been dropped and an inquest into the two deaths will be opened instead," per the BBC. Cheptegei, 33, who represented Uganda at the Paris Olympics, is to be buried Saturday at her ancestral home in Bukwo, Uganda. (Paris officials have proposed naming a sports venue in her honor.)