A Nakuru Court has ordered self-confessed serial killer Ezekiel Mwangi Sakwa, to be remanded at Menengai Police Station for 30 days.
This follows an application from the prosecution to allow investigators more time to complete their probe into the murder of three women and a minor within the Olrongai area in Nakuru county.
Sakwa, 19, appeared before Molo Chief Magistrate Elena Nderitu amid heavy police escort. He faces accusations of murdering three women and a minor in separate incidents within the Ol Rongai area.
The court heard concerns for Sakwa’s safety, as local residents are reportedly demanding his release in order to seek their own justice. The prosecution highlighted that families are continuing to report missing persons linked to the case.
“In light of the gravity of the charges and the potential risk to the suspect’s life, I grant the application for a 30-day detention period to allow the investigation to be completed,” Mr Nderitu ruled.
As part of the investigations, Sakwa is expected to lead a team of homicide detectives from Nairobi County to scenes within Olrongai where he allegedly killed his female victims and later defiled them.
Homicide detectives visit home of man who hosted self-confessed serial killer Ezekiel Sakwa Mwangi
Rongai Sub-County Police Commander Wilberforce Sicharani said Mr Sakwa was arrested last Sunday in Ngata area.
The victims include 34-year-old Cooperative Bank Nakuru branch employee Florence Mueni whose ears and thumb were chopped off and body disposed of in a maize plantation in Olrongai area. The other victims are Blessings Ayuma, 5, Vella Moraa, 28, and Virginia Njeri, 46.
According to police, Sakwa detailed how he had accosted his first victim Blessings, a five-year-old girl, on July 13. He later killed, defiled, and dumped her body in a maize plantation in Rongai.
According to an autopsy report, the cause of Blessing's death was a blow to the back of the head.She also had stab wounds to her skull and a rectovaginal fistula.
Ezekiel Mwangi Sakwa (centre), 19, is taken to the Molo Law Court on August 20, 2024.
Photo credit: John Njoroge | Nation Media Group
His second victim was Ms Mueni. A day after murdering her, he returned to the scene to chop off her ears and right thumb, claiming he was taking them to an unidentified person in Nairobi.
The third victim was Moraa whose body he allegedly also dumped in a maize field near Mustard seed estate.
On August 5, he attacked his fourth victim Njeri at Menengai Crater, where she had gone for prayers. Using a sharp object, he killed, defiled, and dumped her body in a cave.
Mr Sicharani revealed that the suspect admitted to randomly picking his victims, robbing them of their valuables, and using one of their phones.
“He told detectives that he was acting alone,” Mr Sicharani said, adding that homicide detectives from Nairobi were now involved in the investigation.
“Homicide detectives from Nairobi were dispatched from and are helping us with investigations. He was arraigned on Tuesday and detectives will seek more days to complete investigation,” he said.
“He told us whenever he was committing the crime, he always had some super powers, and he did not know any of his victims. He said that his mother passed on and his father chased him from home. He claimed that no one loved him. We suspect that he is in a cult,” he added.
Rongai sub-county Directorate of criminal investigations (DCI) Donnatta Otieno said the suspect will have charged with murder and rape.
Meanwhile, the family of John Gaturu in Olrongai is grappling with shock and disbelief. They had hosted the suspect, Sakwa, for five months, unaware that he would turn out to be a serial killer.
Mr Gaturu recounted how they took Sakwa in after his wife found him resting in their shamba, weak and in need of help.
Sakwa, who had been expelled from school in July, claimed he had just been released from Naivasha Maximum Prison after serving three years, though he did not disclose his crime.
He said he was seeking his leaving certificate from Olrongai Primary School and was looking for assistance to join Form One.
Moved by his story, the Gaturu family provided him with food and a place to stay.
"When he came here, we saw he was a good boy," Mr Gaturu said. They bought him a school uniform and enrolled him in Olrongai Secondary School, with the local MCA volunteering to provide bursary support.
Sakwa seemed to settle in, even helping the family with house chores and washing the family car on weekends.
However, his behaviour is reported to have soon changed and was found with a knife, which he claimed he wanted to use against a student who had wronged him.
The matter was resolved, but a day later, Sakwa was caught with a toy gun, threatening other students, leading to his expulsion.
“The next day, he didn’t go to school without giving a reason. That Saturday, he told me he wouldn’t wash the car. When I asked him why, he said he had wronged us and wanted to leave,” Gaturu recalled.
In Sakwa's single room, detectives found a blood-stained blue jeans trouser, deepening the mystery of how a once-promising young man could have turned into a cold-blooded murderer.
Mr Peter Otieno, a Nyumba Kumi official, described Sakwa as a good boy who had changed drastically.
Sakwa had arrived in Olrongai village at age four with his mother, a casual labourer.
After she passed away in 2020, Sakwa was taken in by relatives in Naivasha. However, his life took a dark turn when he defiled his two-year-old sister and killed his cousin, who reported the incident. He was arrested and served time in Naivasha Maximum Prison and Eldama Ravine before being released in January 2024.
"After he was released, he told the community he had changed and wanted to go back to school. We wonder what happened that turned him into a serial killer," Mr Otieno said.
