Kenyan authorities are on high alert following the escape of Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, a suspected serial killer, from police custody. Khalusha, who had reportedly confessed to the murders of 42 women—including his wife—since 2022, escaped alongside 12 others by cutting through a wire mesh roof and scaling a perimeter wall of the police station where he was held.
Police discovered the escape at 05:00 local time (03:00 GMT) during a routine breakfast check. The 12 escapees included Eritrean nationals detained for illegal entry into Kenya. Khalusha, 33, was arrested in July after nine mutilated bodies were found at an abandoned quarry in Nairobi. The victims, aged between 18 and 30, had been killed in a similar manner.
The case has ignited outrage, raising questions about the police’s failure to detect the murders and the bodies’ proximity to a police station. Kenya’s police watchdog is investigating potential police involvement amid allegations of unlawful arrests and abductions.
Khalusha’s lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, claims his client was tortured into confession, a claim refuted by authorities. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) described Khalusha as a “psychopathic serial killer.”
