Thirteen inmates broke out of a police station in Nairobi including a man who police say confessed to the murders of 42 women and was being detained over the discovery of dismembered bodies, Kenyan authorities said on Tuesday.
Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, broke out of the police station where he was being held, along with 12 other inmates, all of Eritrean nationality, who had been detained for illegal entry into the country.
Khalusha was arrested in July after authorities discovered 10 bodies and various body parts wrapped in plastic sacks in Nairobi’s Kware area.
Mohamed Amin, the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, announced the escape.
Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, a prime suspect of killing and dismembering women then dumping them in a flooded quarry, appears in court in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 16, 2024.
Andrew Kasuku/AP
He said that disciplinary action has been taken against eight police officers, including the area and station commanders as well as those on duty at the time of the breakout.
“Our preliminary investigations suggest that the escape was facilitated by insiders, given that the officers were properly assigned to secure the station,” Amin stated.
According to a police report, the inmates made their escape early Tuesday morning by cutting through the wire mesh in their cell and scaling the perimeter wall.
The breakout was only discovered when breakfast was being delivered to the cell.
Khalusha had been detained at the station after a court granted detectives an additional seven days to investigate his alleged crimes.
He had reportedly 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 appropriate action,” Amin added.
However, Khalusha’s lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, disputed the confession, claiming his client was tortured into making it and insisting on Khalusha’s innocence.
Ndegwa expressed his shock at the escape, stating that he last spoke to Khalusha on Friday when he was presented in court.
“I’m also confounded by the news,” he told reporters.
In the aftermath of the escape, the police station was cordoned off with crime scene tape, and senior police officials visited the site on Tuesday afternoon.
Two other suspects who were arrested after being found with cellphones belonging to some of the deceased women are to return to court next Monday.
The discovery of the bodies in July shocked the nation.
The remains were found after the relatives of a missing woman claimed they had a dream in which she guided them to search in a quarry.
A local diver searched the area and found the bodies wrapped in sacks.
DNA testing has identified six of the victims, but several body parts remain unidentified.
