Collins Jumaisi Khalusha: The Escaped Serial Killer Of Kenya

He confessed to killing 42 women in just two years. The alleged victims include his own wife, and now Collins Jumaisi Khalusha is free, after escaping from a Kenya police station. The country is in turmoil after the man accused of being Kenya's worst serial killer fled, along with 12 other prisoners. Khalusha, a former motorcycle taxi driver, was arrested in July after authorities discovered bodies and various body parts wrapped in plastic sacks in the capital city of Nairobi.

He confessed after his arrest. Khalusha's lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, disputed the confession, claiming Khalusha was tortured. Two other suspects, arrested after being found with cellphones belonging to some of the deceased women, are to return to court next Monday.

The remains were found in the Kware area of Nairobi after the relatives of a missing woman claimed they had a dream in which she guided them to search in a disused quarry in the Mukuru slum. A local diver searched the area and found the bodies wrapped in sacks.

DNA testing has identified six of the victims, but body parts of at least three other women remain unidentified. The victims were aged between 18 and 30 and the method of killing was similar, police said. The case was embarrassing for officers, as the quarry is about 100 meters from a police station.

When Khalusha was arrested, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) chief Mohamed Amin said: "It is crystallizing that we are dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect for human life, who has no respect and dignity." Khalusha's lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, told the BBC in July: "He says he was strangled to confess. You could tell he was in distress, terrified and in anguish."

Speaking to Kenyan station, NTV, in Malovu village in Vihiga County, the alleged ancestral home of Collins, purported relatives said they did not recognize the names or the person whose image appears in the photos circulated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. Others told NTV that they did recognize him and that he worked as a boda boda, or motorcycle taxi driver.

Khalusha was due to enter a plea on Friday to the charges of murdering six women. The Nairobi Law Monthly reported that Khalusha was detained alongside Amos Momanyi and Moses Ogembo after a ruling by a court "to have them detained for seven more days following an application by the prosecution for a 21-day extension to detain them."

During a court appearance before Makadara Principal Magistrate Irine Gichobi, Khalusha "was described as a key suspect with allegations of confessing to the murders of up to 42 women, although he denies the charges." The prosecution is still going through the exhibits, including the recovered body parts from the quarry, to ensure more charges are preferred.

It was from the Gigiri Police Station that Khalusha escaped with 12 other men. They did so by cutting through a wire mesh at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The other 12 are Eritreans who were arrested for illegal emigration into Kenya and are now considered a threat to the public.

In an unrelated case, on Monday, August 12, Pastor Paul Mackenzie appeared in court in Mombasa alongside 94 other suspects. Mackenzie was arrested in April after 429 bodies, including children, were dug up from mass graves in a Kenyan forest. He allegedly encouraged his followers to starve themselves to death so that they could meet Jesus.