Kisumu serial killer attempts suicide in Kodiaga Prison

A suspected serial killer who is remanded at Kodiaga Prison in Kisumu was Tuesday evening rushed to hospital after he attempted suicide by setting himself ablaze.

Harrison Okumu, who is facing seven counts of murder, is reported to have set himself on fire inside his solitary cell, suffering burns on both arms.

He was rescued by fellow inmates and prison warders who rushed him to the Kisumu District Hospital where he was admitted.

Nyanza Regional Prison Commandant Amos Misik told Nation.co.ke Wednesday that the murder suspect did not suffer serious injuries and was transferred back to the prison’s health centre later in the afternoon.

He said the matter had been reported to the police and was being treated as an attempted suicide.

Mr Okumu said the suspect had claimed he was trying to light a cigarette when the mattress caught fire.

“Although he has denied attempting suicide, we are treating it as so and police have launched investigations,” said Mr Okumu.

He added that other investigations were underway to establish how he managed to smuggle the matches into his prison cell.

The suspect, whose murder case is being heard in court, may face fresh charges of attempted murder after police conclude investigations.

Mr Misik said the suspect had exhibited violent tendencies and had last week assaulted a fellow inmate, prompting the prison officials to isolate him.

He said the inmate had appeared disturbed since he was booked into the correctional facility.

PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION

The official said they were considering taking him for fresh psychiatric evaluation.

“Although initial assessments proved him of sound mind and capable of standing trial, we may have to take him for tests again because he appears mentally disturbed,” said Mr Misik.

He was under tight security at the hospital where he was discharged sooner than scheduled after he expressed discomfort at the crowd that had come to witness the unfolding case.

Suspicions that Harrison could be a serial killer began when the bodies of two young men he had been seen with the previous day were discovered, one in a water pan and another in the stream.

He denied all murder charges and the cases which have been consolidated into two, are on-going.

His mother, Mrs Syprose Adhiambo who has testified against him in one of the cases in which he is accused of murdering a man with whom he had come home, told the court that she had only learnt of the killings when police officers arrested her son around in July 2013.