Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, a Kenyan woman slayer, broke out from police custody on Tuesday along with 12 undocumented Eritrean migrants, Kenya police spokeswoman Resila Onyango said.
A manhunt is underway in Kenya after the escape of Collins from a Nairobi police cell, he had confessed to murdering 42 women after dismembered bodies were found in a quarry.
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Their escape was discovered when officers made a routine visit to the police station cells at about 5 am to serve the prisoners breakfast, the police said in a separate statement.
“On opening the cell door, they found that 13 prisoners had escaped by cutting the wire mesh in the basking bay,” it said, referring to an area in the station where detainees could get access to fresh air.
The police station is located in the upmarket Nairobi district of Gigiri, home to the regional headquarters of the United Nations and numerous embassies.
Gilbert Masengeli, the acting police inspector general, said disciplinary measures were taken against eight officers who were on duty after preliminary investigations “indicate that the escape was aided by insiders”.
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Khalusha had appeared in a court in the Kenyan capital on Friday when the magistrate ordered him to be held for 30 more days to enable police to complete their investigations.
Mohamed Amin, the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, said after his arrest that Khalusha had confessed to murdering 42 women over two years from 2022 and that his wife had been his first victim.
“We are dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect for human life, who has no respect and dignity,” Amin said at the time.
However, the suspect’s lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, said in court that Khalusha was “tortured” into making the statement. Prosecutors denied these allegations.
Ten butchered female bodies trussed up in plastic bags were found in the dumpsite in an abandoned quarry in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said last month.
