Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, a suspect who police say confessed to killing 42 women including his wife, between 2022 and July 11, 2024, before Kiambu Law Court on July 16, 2024.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mohammed Amin on July 15 convened a news conference to announce a suspected serial killer had confessed to murdering 42 women at Kware in Mukuru slums.
Following the arrest, Mr Amin said, Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, 33, the prime suspect had confessed to dumping bodies of the victims in a dumpsite at Kware.
Mr Amin convened another follow-up briefing at his Mazingira Complex on Kiambu Road that night to provide an update on the investigations.
Journalists were allowed to photograph exhibits seized from the suspect’s house including identity cards, undergarments, handbags and a machete, and also interview the family of one of the victims who had gone missing.
Coming at a time when President William Ruto had announced the resignation of Mr Japhet Koome as the Inspector General of Police, Mr Amin was among the first senior police officers to arrive at the scene of crime on July 14.
He was in the company of acting IG Douglas Kanja.
During the visit to the murder scene, Mr Amin told journalists that the bodies retrieved from the dumpsite pointed to an organised criminal racket owing to the nature of the killings.
“The mode of operation was almost the same. If you look at the age, it is between 18 and 30. If you look at the gender, they are all female and the way the bodies have been disguised and packaged is all the same. If you look at the place the bodies were thrown into the dumpsite, just one spot,” Amin told the press at the scene.
The DCI boss at the time said the killings began in 2022.
Mr Kanja announced the transfer of all police officers based at Kware police station at the time to allow independent investigations.
A day after the visit by the police chiefs to Kware, President Ruto announced that he had directed the DCI boss Amin to bring to book the killers.
And with the order from the President, Mr Amin and his team of homicide investigators hit the ground running.
After securing 28 days from the court to continue holding the prime suspects in the murder, the homicide investigators will be back in court this Friday.
But the public should manage their expectations as the DCI will not be pressing 42 counts of murder on Jumaisi.
Instead, the homicide investigators will only prosecute Jumaisi on six counts of murder if Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga approves the charges.
Initial figure of 42 abandoned
Sources familiar with the investigations on Monday, August 12, told the Nation that the homicide investigators had decided to abandon the initial figure of 42 that was announced by Amin and focus on what could be delivered.
The sources said only six families had come out to claim the bodies of their murdered relatives.
After collecting all body parts from the dumpsite and forensically analyzing the parts, the investigators established that only six bodies could be accounted for.
On Monday, a top investigator familiar with the probe said: “The best we have so far are six charges of murder “
The bodies were identified through DNA analysis and postmortem exams conducted at the city mortuary.
Government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor, who conducted the post-mortem examination on the mutilated bodies, said some of the bodies had decomposed, making it difficult to get finer details of how the victims died.
Pathologists and homicide investigators were able to identify upper body parts with head injuries, indicating that the victims succumbed to excessive brain bleeding.
Lawyer John Maina, who is representing Jumaisi, told the Nation that his client will be back in court this Friday.
Maina said there are at least two possible outcomes this Friday when the police arraign his client in court.
The first scenario will be for the DCI to press charges on the six murder cases that they have so far concluded. The second option will be for the DCI to seek more time to continue with their investigations.
Mr Amin did not respond to Nation's inquiries on Monday, August 12 evening.
