A Kenyan man, Collins Jumaisi, 33, who police describe as a 'vampire, a psychopath' and claim has confessed to murdering and dismembering 42 women, has escaped from a Nairobi police cell along with 12 other detainees, according to police statements on Tuesday.
Jumaisi was arrested last month following the gruesome discovery of mutilated bodies in a garbage dump in a Nairobi slum. 'They escaped last night, 13 in total, including the key suspect in the dump murder case,' Kenya police spokeswoman Resila Onyango informed AFP. The other 12 escapees, all Eritreans, were also detained at the police station.
Jumaisi had been presented in a Nairobi court on Friday, where a magistrate ordered his detention for an additional 30 days to allow police to complete their investigations. Ten mutilated female bodies, wrapped in plastic bags, were discovered in an abandoned quarry in the Mukuru slum, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
Jumaisi was apprehended on July 15 near a bar where he was watching the Euro 2024 football final. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations' head, Mohamed Amin, stated after his arrest that Jumaisi had confessed to killing 42 women over a two-year period starting from 2022, with his wife being his first victim. 'We are dealing with a vampire, a psychopath,' Amin commented at the time.
The discovery of the bodies near a police station highlighted issues within Kenya's police force. The state-funded KNCHR announced in July it was conducting its own investigation into the Mukuru case to 'rule out any possibility of extrajudicial killings.' The Independent Police Oversight Authority is also examining whether there was any police involvement or failure to prevent the killings. Kenyan police frequently face accusations from rights groups of unlawful killings or operating hit squads, with few facing justice.
