Kenyan Police Accused Of Aiding Escape Of Suspected Serial Killer

Eight police officers in Kenya have been suspended on suspicion of helping a serial killer escape, police said.

In July, police reported that Collins Jumaisi Khalusha had confessed to the murders of 42 women, including his wife, since 2022.

Mr Khalusha’s lawyer denied the allegation, claiming his client was tortured into confessing.

He had been held at a police station since his arrest in July, but police said on Tuesday that Khalusha and 12 others managed to escape after being “helped by insiders”.

According to an incident report from the agency, police discovered the detainees missing at 5 a.m. local time (03:00 GMT), as officers were serving breakfast.

The 13 people managed to escape by breaking through a wire mesh roof and climbing over a wall, the report said.

The 12 people who fled with Mr Khalusha were Eritrean nationals who were being held for entering the country illegally, police said.

Eight officers who were on duty at the time have been suspended while the investigation continues, police said.

Khalusha, 33, was arrested after nine mutilated bodies were found in an abandoned quarry in the capital Nairobi.

According to police, the victims were between 18 and 30 years old and were all killed in the same manner.

Their killings caused shock and outrage, with many wondering how officers could not see bodies being left in a quarry about 100 metres (109 yards) from a police station.

They also wondered how it was possible that 42 people could be murdered in two years without the police noticing. And how it was possible that officers, after having been unsuspecting for so long, could arrest someone less than three days after the bodies were discovered in the quarry.

Kenya’s police watchdog also expressed some scepticism. The Independent Police Oversight Authority launched an investigation to determine whether police themselves were involved in the killings, following “widespread allegations of police involvement in unlawful arrests (and) abductions”.

The findings have not yet been released.

Kenya’s police have been accused of numerous human rights violations in the past and are currently under investigation for deaths and kidnappings that followed the killing of police. recent protests against the government.

When Mr Khalusha was arrested, Mohamed Amin, head of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (DCI), said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that we are dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect for human life, who has no respect and no dignity.”

Mr Khalusha’s lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, told the BBC in July: “He says he was strangled to confess. You could see he was in distress, terrified and afraid.”

The suspect appeared in court in Nairobi on Friday, where the magistrate ordered him to be held for another 30 days so police could complete their investigation, AFP news agency reported.

The discovery of the dismembered bodies came while the country was still in turmoil. the so-called Shakahola forest massacrewhere more than 400 bodies were found in mass graves near the Indian Ocean coast.

Cult leader Paul Mackenzie is said to have encouraged his followers to starve themselves in order to “see Jesus”.

He has denied any wrongdoing in the killing.