NAIROBI, Kenya — A suspect who police said confessed to killing 42 women and was being detained over the discovery of dismembered bodies in Kenya’s capital has escaped from police custody, officials said Tuesday.
Mohamed Amin, the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, said Collins Jumaisi Khalusha escaped along with 12 other inmates of Eritrean nationality who had been arrested for being in the country illegally.
Acting police inspector general Gilbert Masengeli said disciplinary measures have been taken against eight officers, including the area and station commanders and officers who were on duty.
“Our preliminary investigations indicate that the escape was aided by insiders considering that officers were deployed accordingly to guard the station,” he said.
Khalusha was arrested in July after 10 bodies and several body parts were found wrapped in plastic sacks in the Kware area of Nairobi.
Ndegwa told the AP that he last spoke to Khalusha on Friday when he was presented in court.
The relatives asked a local diver to help and he discovered the bodies wrapped in sacks.
Six bodies were identified after DNA tests, but several body parts remain unidentified.
Nairobi, Kenya — Authorities reported on Tuesday that a suspect who was being held in connection with the discovery of dismembered bodies in the country’s capital and who they claimed confessed to the murder of 42 women had escaped from their custody.
Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, along with twelve other prisoners of Eritrean nationality who had been detained for illegal immigration, managed to elude capture, according to Mohamed Amin, the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Eight officers have been placed under disciplinary action, including the area and station commanders and the officers who were on duty, according to acting police inspector general Gilbert Masengeli.
Given that officers were stationed appropriately to guard the station, “our preliminary investigations indicate that the escape was aided by insiders,” the speaker stated.
The prisoners broke through the cell’s wire mesh and climbed the outer wall, according to a police report, allowing them to escape early on Tuesday. While breakfast was being carried into the cell, the escape was found.
After a judge gave detectives an additional seven days to look into Khalusha’s alleged crimes before charging him, the 33-year-old was being held at the police station.
Following the discovery of ten bodies and numerous body parts wrapped in plastic sacks in Nairobi’s Kware neighborhood, Khalusha was taken into custody in July.
Khalusha admitted to killing 42 women, including his wife, according to the police.
“There were going to be serious charges brought against this valuable suspect.”. Amin stated, “We are looking into the incident and will respond appropriately.
According to Khalusha’s attorney, John Maina Ndegwa, his client was coerced into confessing under duress, but he insisted on his innocence.
When Khalusha was brought into court on Friday, Ndegwa told the AP, that was the last time he spoke with him.
“The news has confused me as well,” he remarked.
Senior police officers visited the police station on Tuesday afternoon, which was marked off with crime scene tape and from which the suspects had escaped.
Next Monday is the second suspect’s court appearance. These two were taken into custody after it was discovered that they had cellphones belonging to some of the deceased women.
When the relatives of one missing woman claimed to have had a dream in which she instructed them to search a quarry, police reported in July that the bodies had been found.
The corpses were wrapped in sacks when the relatives called a local diver for assistance. DNA testing led to the identification of six bodies, but several body parts are still unknown.
