A serial killer who raped and strangled five children in Moi’s Bridge, Uasin Gishu County, has been found guilty of one murder.
Evans Juma Wanjala strangled one of the victims to death five years ago. During his confession, Wanjala took investigators to various scenes where he had reportedly committed the crimes and described in detail how he had killed the children.
“Evidence produced in this court by medical experts confirmed that the minor was defiled and strangled to death. DNA tests on blood samples collected from the victim's T-shirt and underwear matched samples taken from the accused,” said Justice Nyakundi.
The victim's family rejected a plea bargain proposed by the suspect, which would have allowed him to receive a lesser sentence.
Stacy’s mother, Sharon Sakwa, described Wanjala’s plea bargain application as a mockery, stating that her daughter had endured unimaginable suffering.
“The pain that the accused subjected my only daughter to was beyond imagination. I cannot agree to his plea bargain. Let the court decide his fate based on the evidence,” she told the court.
Stacy was reported missing on December 31, 2019. On January 1, 2020, her mutilated body was discovered buried in a thicket in Soweto Estate, on the outskirts of Moi’s Bridge Township. The court ordered the exhumation of her remains to facilitate a post-mortem examination.
The bodies of the other four children, who were murdered in a similar manner and are also believed to be linked to the suspect, were exhumed from various locations in Moi’s Bridge (Uasin Gishu County) and Trans Nzoia County.
It is alleged that the suspect also murdered Linda Cherono (13), Mary Elusa (14), Grace Njeri (12) and Lucy Wanjiru (15).
Detectives' statements presented in court indicated that Wanjala lured the girls from various locations within Moi’s Bridge and took them to secluded areas, where he raped and killed them.
Although the suspect confessed to the murders, the prosecution initially focused their charges on the murder of Stacy and are expected to bring similar charges for the other victims.
These gruesome crimes triggered a public outcry and prompted the Serious Crimes Unit to deploy homicide detectives to the region in 2021.
Senior homicide detective Peter Kamau, a key witness in the case, told the court that he had obtained an order from Eldoret court to exhume all five bodies for forensic analysis.
Kamau testified that the exhumations were necessary because the bodies had been buried without post-mortems or DNA samples being collected.
The court also heard that Wanjala had three other pending sexual offence cases in Makindu, Makueni County for which arrest warrants had been issued.
