Key suspect detained behind mysterious killings in Kenyan capital

Nairobi: Kenyan police said Monday they are interrogating a key suspect behind the brutal killings in Nairobi, the country's capital, after nine mutilated bodies were retrieved from a dumpsite in a slum.

Director of Criminal Investigations Mohammed Amin said the suspect Collins Jomaisi Khalisia, who was arrested Monday morning in connection with the gruesome murders, also confessed to having killed 42 women since 2022.

Amin said the serial killer was nabbed outside a nightclub where he had gone to watch the Euro 2024 finals between Spain and England.

"On interrogation, the suspect confessed to having lured, killed, and disposed of 42 female bodies at the dumping site. All were murdered between 2022 and as recently as July 11, 2024," he told journalists in Nairobi, reports Xinhua news agency.

The director said the suspect alleged that his first victim was his wife, namely Imelda Judith, whom he strangled to death before dismembering her body and dumping it at the same site.

Amin said the suspect's pursuit and consequent arrest followed a thorough forensic analysis of a mobile phone that belonged to one of the victims, namely Josephine Mulongo Owino, where some mobile money transactions were conducted on the day Mulongo went missing.

According to Amin, the suspect led police to his house in Kware, located about 100 meters from the dumpsite, where nine bodies have been retrieved.

Upon interrogation, Amin said all the victims had been murdered in the same style, adding that the government was dealing with a psychopathic serial killer who had no dignity for human life.

"The modus operandi was almost the same. If you look at the age, it was between 18 and 30. These are all female. If you look at how the bodies have been disguised and packaged, they are all the same," Amin said.

He said several items had been recovered in his procession, including 24 sim cards, eight smartphones, two feature phones, one laptop and one hard drive.

The arrest came two days after Kenyan President William Ruto directed security agencies to speed up investigations into the mysterious killings in the capital.

Ruto assured citizens that those behind the killings will be held to account, saying no stone will be left unturned.

"Nine bodies have been retrieved from Kware dumpsite in Mukuru kwa Njenga (slum), (the) majority being bodies of women and girls," he said and appealed to every Kenyan to uphold peace and conduct their business without breaking the law.

The bodies were well wrapped in sacks and black polythene bags and later tied with ropes, while some had burns and were decomposing.

Residents said some of the bodies had visible, severe injuries, although it was not immediately established if they had bullet wounds owing to the state of the bodies.

The incident came days after the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said 41 people have died and more than 360 have been injured since the nationwide anti-finance bill protests began in June. The human rights body also said they have recorded 32 cases of abduction.