Police arrested 33-year-old Collins Jumasi Khalusha early Monday and presented him to the nearest party, linking him to bodies that were found floating in a lonely mine in a Nairobi slum on Friday.
Authorities said Khalusha confessed to killing 42 women, with the first victim reportedly being his wife.
“We are dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect for human life, who has no dignity and respect,” Kenyan police investigations director Mohammed Amin told reporters on Monday.
On the other hand, the suspect’s lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, said in court on Tuesday that Khalusha was “tortured” into making the comments. Prosecutors denied those allegations.
The findings have shed another light on Kenya’s police and put additional pressure on President William Ruto, who is trying to stoke extremism through widespread anti-government protests that have left dozens of protesters dead.
What we know so far about this case:
What happened to the victims?
Nine dismembered and mutilated bodies were found in sacks between Friday and Monday in the Mukuru mine, which is now used as a dumping site for waste. Local searchers accompanying the police told reporters that they had counted more than nine bodies.
Police said the victims included 8 women, with it unclear if the 9th deceased was male or female. All were aged between 18 and 30 and were killed in the same manner. Police said the killings began in 2022 and the latest murder occurred last Thursday.
The search began when a woman paid locals to sweep the mine in search of her sister Josephine Owino, who went missing on June 26. Searchers spotted the sacks and alerted the police. Owino’s fate still remains doubtful as none of the bodies recovered have been identified as his.
Officials said police focused on Khalusha as a suspect after studying cash transfers made on the cell phone of one of the most prominent victims.
A raid on the area of Khalusha, which police said was about 100 meters (110 yards) from the unloading point, found 10 hidden cellphones, women’s clothing, a knife and sacks belonging to dismembered bodies. copes with. Apart from this, a computer and many other identity cards of women and men were also found.
One victim has been identified as Roslyn Akoth Ogongo, police said. Her mob recognized the purse she was carrying hidden among the pieces recovered from the suspect’s house. Authorities said the second victim was Imelda Judith Karenya, believed to be the suspect’s first wife. Police said their mob recognized an ID card found at Khalusha’s home.
It is clear what the motive behind the murders was. The suspect was arrested early Monday at a bar where he was watching the Equa Football Championship final, officials said.
How are Kenyans reacting?
Kenyans have reacted with outrage since Friday, saying it is not easy to figure out how the killer could have been ignored by the police, especially when a police station is attached to the spot where the bodies were found.
The case has focused renewed attention on murders of women in Kenya.
Femicide is a big fear for human rights activists in the country. In January, large numbers of women took to the streets to protest the murder of two women on different days.
Starlet Wahoo, a 26-year-old Instagram influencer, was fatally attacked with a knife on January 3 by a man with whom she moved into a short-let apartment. Just two weeks later, police found the body of 20-year-old Rita Veni. The elderly scholar who was murdered and dismembered by a man had also moved into a short-let apartment.
Nearly 500 Kenyan women have been murdered between 2017 and January 2024, according to investigative platforms Africa Uncensored and Africa Information Hub.
Are the new murders any connection with the police?
While Khalusha was in custody, Kenyans wondered how the police found a “serial killer” suspect so quickly, while some previous cases of murder of women, including Weni, have yet to be solved.
The country’s police have been accused of human rights violations for a long time.
As mutilated bodies were found, there was speculation that they could be the rest of the protesters protesting against the tax hike who had disappeared amid a bloody police crackdown in June.
On June 24, police opened fire on protesters angry over a controversial financial bill, after which they forced their way into Parliament, where lawmakers were deliberating on the legislation. At least 40 people have died.
Protesters and human rights groups say several others were arbitrarily arrested and tortured during the protests. Many people are still missing.
One protester speaking to Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb this week said he was captured and taken to an undisclosed location where officers beat him. “When I remember, I get distraught,” he said, now out of police custody.
Police Chief Jafet Koum resigned on Friday under pressure to answer about police behavior during the protests.
Meanwhile, the remote police monitoring authority said it was launching an investigation into possible police links to the dismembered bodies amid “widespread allegations of police involvement in unlawful arrests (and) kidnappings”. The unit said the bodies found had “mutilations and clear signs of torture” during their last lives.
Officials say all police officers deployed at Kwere police station, which belongs to the unloading site where the bodies were found, have now been transferred to allow a “fair and impartial investigation” into the killings.
Meanwhile, protesters gathered in Nairobi and other cities, a pace that sickened President Ruto. The police opened fire again on Tuesday. Local journalist Wanjeri Kariuku was injured when police opened fire on a group of press members in Nakuru city.
Who else is the suspect and who is the closest?
The court said on Tuesday that suspected killer Khalusha would be detained for 30 days as the investigation into the dismembered bodies continued.
His lawyer, Ndegwa, argued that the initial confession should be passed through the court, including that his client was under duress.
“My client, as he sits there, is in desperate need of immediate medical care,” he told the court. “He was molested, tortured and this confession that the public is being accused of murdering 42 people is ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, two more suspects were arrested, officials said, adding that their identities are not yet known. The first person was arrested on Monday for possessing the mobile phone of the identified victim, Ogongo, authorities said.
The suspect led police to another person who had purchased the telephone from him. Police said they found 154 old telephones in the second suspect’s home, and the man admitted to purchasing the telephones from Khalusha. Officials said these discoveries were a “breakthrough” in the case.
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