- Police asked for public help to recapture Jumaisi.
- A significant cash reward will be provided to anyone with credible information leading to the suspect's arrest
Image: SCREENGRAB
Detectives have offered a cash prize for the arrest of escaped Kware serial murder suspect Collins Jumaisi Khalusha.
Jumaisi and 12 Eritreans escaped from Gigiri police cells on August 21 morning.
Following the developments, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said he was a wanted man and that they were looking for him.
Police asked for public help to recapture Jumaisi.
A significant cash reward will be provided to anyone with credible information leading to the suspect's arrest, a notice by the DCI said.
“The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is seeking the public's help in providing information that could assist in the re-arrest of Collins Jumaisi Khalusha.”
“He was scheduled to be charged with murder but escaped from police custody on Monday, 20/8/2024.
The suspect is from Shiru Sub-location, Shaviringa Location, Hamisi Sub-county in Vihiga County,” said the notice dated August 22.
The DCI said information on the suspect's whereabouts can be reported confidentially to the anonymous #FichuaKwaDCI hotline at 0800722203 or the police hotlines 999, 911, and 112, or to any police station in the republic.
Whereas police did not reveal how much will be offered, insiders said up to Sh1 million is on offer.
Police have concluded the suspect and the foreigners were aided by insiders to escape.
Five of the officers on duty were arrested and presented in court on Wednesday as investigations go on.
It has emerged the group walked through the report office and escaped through a fence behind the station and left towards the Ruaka area.
Top police commanders including acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli, Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Eliud Lagat and DCI boss Mohamed Amin visited the station on Tuesday.
Jumaisi admitted to killing a total of 42 women. He denied the charges in court.
Jumaisi and two others had been presented before Makadara courts to Principal Magistrate Irine Gichobi last week where the prosecution sought the court to allow them to detain the three accused persons for 21 days.
After submissions from both parties, the court ruled that Jumaisi, who is the main suspect, be detained at the Gigiri Police Station for seven more days.
The investigating officer told the court that they have been able to identify six people from body parts recovered from the quarry, and they are likely to charge the suspects with the murder of the victims after the six files have been perused by the DPP for further guidance.
Amin said the suspect revealed he killed 42 women between 2022 and July 11, 2024, when he murdered his last victim.
Amin said the suspect said his first victim was his wife whom he strangled to death, and dismembered before dumping her remains in the dumpsite.
This was after they disagreed on how she ran down businesses he had opened for her.
"Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to having lured, killed and disposed of 42 female bodies at the dumpsite all murdered between 2022 and as recent of July 11, 2024," said Amin.
"The suspect alleged that his first victim was his wife Imelda Judith Khalenya whom he strangled to death before dismembering her body and disposing of it at the same site. From the interrogation, all his victims have been murdered in the same style."
Amin added that Jumaisi was arrested in Kayole after officers from the DCI and the National Police Service (NPS) conducted a joint operation.
"A search led to the recovery of 24 SIM card holders, 8 smartphones, a laptop, a hard drive, two flash drives, a machete believed to be used to dismember the victims, 12 nylon sacks similar to the ones used in stuffing the bodies, a pair of industrial rubber gloves, six ID cards for men and two for women," said Amin.
Other items included: "one pink female handbag, two female panties, five rolls of cannabis, four huge clear cello tapes some of which recovered at the scene, a reflector jacket, two title deeds, two notebooks and assorted documents."
The search for more bodies has been hampered by a lack of equipment.
The process of identifying the bodies is complicated because most of them are decomposed.