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Suspected serial killer in Kenya escapes police custody

Staff WritersAP
Police say Collins Jumaisi Khalusha confessed to killing women but his lawyer says he was tortured. (AP PHOTO)
Camera IconPolice say Collins Jumaisi Khalusha confessed to killing women but his lawyer says he was tortured. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AAP

A suspect who police say 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 say.

Mohamed Amin, the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, said Collins Jumaisi Khalusha escaped along with 12 other inmates of Eritrean citizenship 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.

A police report said the inmates escaped early on Tuesday morning after they cut through wire mesh in the cell and scaled the perimeter wall.

The escape was discovered as breakfast was being taken into the cell.

Khalusha, 33, was being detained at the police station after a court allowed detectives seven more days to investigate his alleged crimes before charging him.

Khalusha was arrested in July after 10 bodies and several body parts were found wrapped in plastic sacks in the Kware area of Nairobi.

Police said Khalusha confessed to killing 42 women, including his wife.

"This was a high-value suspect who was to face serious charges. We are investigating the incident and will take action accordingly," Amin said.

Khalusha's lawyer John Maina Ndegwa told journalists his client was tortured and forced to confess and maintained he was not guilty.

Ndegwa told the Associated Press that he last spoke to Khalusha on Friday when he was presented in court.

"I'm also confounded by the news," he said.

The police station from which the suspects escaped was cordoned off with crime scene tape and senior police officers visited it on Tuesday afternoon.

Two other suspects who were arrested after being found with mobile phones belonging to some of the deceased women are to return to court on Monday.

Police in July said the bodies were discovered after relatives of one missing woman said they had a dream in which she told them to search in a quarry.

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.

Amin had earlier told reporters regarding the case that it "is crystallising that we are dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect for human life".

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