Child serial killer escape: Police officers on duty now in hot water
Masten Milimu Wanjala at the Makadara Law Courts in Nairobi on July 15, 2021.
Three police officers who were on duty when suspected serial child killer Masden Wanjala escaped are now in trouble.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DDP) Noordin Haji has directed the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) of the police to investigate Inspector Philip Mbithi, who was the duty officer, and constables Precious Mwinzi and Boniface Mutuma Kamakia who are based at Jogoo Road Police Station.
The trio, who are accused of aiding Wanjala's escape, were arrested and spent the night at Capitol Hill Police Station.
They face charges of aiding escape from lawful custody and neglect of official duty contrary to section 124 and 128 of the Penal code.
The Nation has learnt that a team of IAU detectives led by a senior officer will be seeking custodial orders to detain the officers for 14 days to enable them finalise the probe into their conduct.
Wanjala, 20, escaped from custody at Jogoo Road Police Station under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday.
The suspect recently confessed to killing more than 10 children in Nairobi, Bungoma and other parts of the country.
He was to be presented in court to take plea yesterday but was discovered missing during the morning roll call.
First arrest
Wanjala was arrested in July this year in connection with two missing children aged 13 and 12.
Following his arrest, he led police to where he had dumped the bodies of the minors - Charles Opindo Bala and Junior Mutuku Musyoki - in Spring Valley estate, Westlands and near Kabete Approved School in Nairobi.
Afterwards, Wanjala confessed to a secret murderous campaign spanning six years and in more than four counties where he executed all his victims single-handedly, some with his bare hands.
He admitted to kidnapping and slaughtering at least 13 children in Nairobi and its environs as the city reeled under a spiralling wave of abductions.
In Bungoma County, he led detectives to several scenes where he claimed to have buried some of his victims. In one village in Kimilili Constituency, one of the victims, nine-year-old Emmanuel Wafula, was defiled and killed before his body was dumped in a pit latrine in the area in February 2019.
At the time, another man, Haron Ajega, 73, was arrested over the suspected killing of the minor. He died last year from an illness even as the cloud of suspicion over his alleged involvement hang over his head.
For every target he eliminated in Bungoma, Machakos, Nairobi and Kajiado, Wanjala claimed he marked the calendar and kept a record of his dark victories by scribbling names on dates.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), he allegedly covered his tracks by dumping the bodies of his victims in pit latrines, sewage pools and thickets.
Additional reporting by Brian Ojamaa
