Kenyan police suspect of helping alleged ‘psychopathic serial killer’ Collins Jumaisi escape from prison

Nairobi — Five Kenyan police officers appeared in court on Wednesday on suspicion of helping a man accused of murdering and dismembering dozens of women escape from a Nairobi prison cell. Police launched a manhunt on Tuesday after suspected serial killer Collins Jumaisi and 12 Eritreans broke out of a police station in an upscale neighborhood of the Kenyan capital.

Jumaisi, 33, was described by police as a “psychopathic serial killer with no respect for human life” when he arrested last month after the horrific discovery of several mutilated bodies in a garbage dump in a slum area of ​​the Kenyan capital.

He and the other prisoners had apparently escaped by cutting through the wire mesh roof of the station.

“Our preliminary investigations indicate that the escape was facilitated by insiders,” acting national police chief Gilbert Masengeli said on Tuesday.

Five of the eight officers arrested in connection with the escape appeared before a Nairobi court on Wednesday. Police applied for an arrest warrant for a further 14 days to keep them in custody and complete their investigation.

Police said they discovered the outbreak when officers made routine visits to cells around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning to serve breakfast to prisoners.

“When they opened the cell door, they found that 13 prisoners had escaped by cutting through the wire mesh in the sunbathing area,” police said in a statement. The area was a covered courtyard in the station where prisoners could get some fresh air.

The twelve Eritreans were arrested for illegally staying in Kenya, police said. Four other prisoners who were unable to escape are helping with the investigation.

The police station is located in Gigiri district, which is home to the United Nations regional headquarters and numerous embassies.

After Jumaisi's arrest on July 15, police said he confessed to murdering 42 women over a two-year period starting in 2022; his wife was his first victim.

Jumaisi claimed he was sexually harassed and tortured, his lawyer told AFP last month.

This is the second time in just under six months that a suspect has escaped from custody in a high-profile case.

Kenyan national Kevin Kangethe, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend in the United States last year and leaving her body in an airport parking lot, fled a police station in February before being caught about a week later. A judge ordered his extradition Back to the USA at the beginning of August.