Serial child killer developed thirst for human blood at 14

Fresh details have emerged on the macabre killings of children abducted by a self-confessed serial killer arrested in Kitengela on Tuesday.

To a sane mind, the dark secrets of 20-year-old Masten Milimu Wanjala read like a horror movie script only fit for a Hollywood audience.

Police say the young man raised by his mother (see separate story) developed thirst for human blood in 2015 when he was still a minor, 14 years old, in Machakos County.

In his secret murderous campaign spanning six years and in more than four counties, detective say, Wanjala executed all his victims single-handedly, some with his bare hands.

For every target he eliminated in Bungoma, Machakos, Nairobi and Kajiado, he marked the calendar and kept a record of his dark victories by scribbling names on dates.

Like a vampire, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said, the suspect sucked the blood of some of his victims as he strangled them to death.

“The victims were either forced to drink, sniff or were sprayed with the substance before the horrendous acts were committed on them,” DCI boss George Kinoti said.

Sucked minor’s blood

To conceal the heinous acts and cover his tracks, the suspected serial killer dumped the bodies of his victims in pit latrines, sewage pools and thickets.

“Unbeknownst to some of the worried families, their children were long devoured by the beast and their remains dumped in thickets in Lower Kabete (for Nairobi victims). Others were submerged in sewer lines in the city and left to rot away!” Mr Kinoti said in a tweet.

Police released the list of the more than 10 victims yesterday, even as detectives suspended a planned collection of bodies Wanjala said he had buried around the capital Nairobi.

The crime busters told the Nation they needed “mechanised support” as some of the places the children’s remains were dumped are blocked by concrete.

The victims, a majority identified by only one name in a preliminary police report, include his first target, 12-year-old Purity Maweu, whom he kidnapped from Kima Kimwe, Machakos County, in 2015.

Police say Wanjala sucked the minor’s blood before leaving her for dead.

Maweu’s body was later recovered by her relatives who buried it. Until yesterday’s shocking revelations, the truth behind the killing was yet to be  established.

At only 14, it seems Wanjala’s thirst for human blood was fully developed as he embarked on a spate of child executions that left dozens of families distraught.

In 2019, the suspect’s records show he killed 13-year-old Aron whom he strangled to death in Kimilili while last year, he targeted Augustine Mukhisa, also 13, at Chwele in Bungoma County.

Mukhisa’s body was found stashed in a sack and dumped in a pit latrine next to his father’s house. Police suspect Wanjala fled Chwele village after killing yet another child years ago.

Another victim he only identified as 12-year-old Austin from Kitengela is said to have been strangled and body dumped in a road sewage along General Waruinge Street in Nairobi. This body is yet to be recovered.

Then there is a 13-year-old boy, only identified as Josee, who was picked from Mlolongo and, just like Austin, he was thrown into a road sewer along General Waruinge Street in Nairobi. His remains, too, are yet to be recovered.

Musa, his other victim, was found strangled, thrown in a sack and body dumped at Eastleigh’s 12th Street roundabout.

The body was taken to the City Mortuary where it was later positively identified by relatives and buried.

Kidnapped and strangled

Last December, Wanjala confessed to have picked up two street boys from Eastleigh and Mathare and strangled them separately then dumping their bodies in an unknown place.

In June 30 and July 7 this year, the suspect also kidnapped and strangled 13-year-old Charles Opindo Bala and 12-year-old Junior Mutuku Musyoka.

These two murders brought his nefarious campaign to an end on Tuesday after he was traced and cornered by detectives.

The suspect led detectives to the scene where decomposing bodies were found in Nairobi near Kabete Approved School and the other at a thicket near Spring Valley in Westlands on Wednesday morning.

Some of the officers privy to the details of the ongoing investigations told Nation that the suspect is likely to have committed the horrendous crimes alone as he first worked on gaining the children’s trust before strangling them.

This came as detectives yesterday arrested a man in Kitengela town in connection with the killings attributed to Wanjala.

Mr Mofat Wanjala, 24, an egg vendor who is believed to be Milimu’s cousin, was picked up from his one-bedroom rental house at Gracious estate in Kitengela, Kajiado County.

Self-confessed killer

A detective privy to the investigations said Mofat was a close affiliate of Wanjala and is expected to help unravel the mystery of the multiple killings.

Mofat, who Kitengela residents say hawks eggs on a trolley near the Kenya Power EPZ office, has been handed over to a team that is handling the case at DCI headquarters, Nairobi, for further questioning.

Wanjala, the main suspect in the matter, was picked up along Mwireri road on Tuesday, not far from Gracious estate, where he was reportedly being housed by Mr Wanjala.

Residents described the self-confessed killer as a loner.

“We didn’t know his name, but he frequented the back alleys of the town, which are always teeming with idle youths. He was a reclusive man and not very easy to approach or strike a conversation with,” said a boda boda rider who operates on Mwireri Street.

Detectives are also working to unravel the identity of two boys from Kitengela whom Wanjala confessed to have murdered.

“We’re moving in earnest to profile all known street boys in Kitengela town to ascertain if anyone is missing. We’re also keen on a group of teenage boys who operate in the back streets of Kitengela town in our efforts to identity the two murder victims,” a source at the DCI Kitengela office said.

Additional report by Stanley Ngotho. [email protected]