An accused Kenyan serial killer known as the “Vampire” who is suspected of killing 42 women has escaped from custody along with 12 other detainees, officials said Tuesday.
Collins Gumisi Khalisha from Kenya and other suspects from Eritrea were allowed to escape from Gigiri police station in Nairobi with the help of eight officers, including station commanders, said Mohamed Amin, head of the country’s Criminal Investigations Department.
Officials alleged that the prisoners cut through a wire mesh in their cells and scaled a perimeter wall, and that senior commanders only learned of the escape when officers went to the cells to serve breakfast to the detainees.
Amin added, “Our initial investigations indicate that the escape was carried out with assistance from inside the station, as officers were deployed appropriately to guard the station.”
“This was a high-value suspect who was due to face serious charges,” Amin said of Khalicha, 33, whom police described as a “vampire and psychopath.”
“We are investigating the incident and will take appropriate action,” Amin said.
The escape came after officials ordered Khalicha to remain in police custody for another week while investigators continued to probe the 42 murders linked to him.
Khalisha was arrested in July after authorities learned of the discovery of 10 mutilated bodies inside a quarry in Nairobi’s Kwari neighbourhood.
Officials say Khalicha confessed to killing not only 10 women, but 32 others over two years, the first victim being his missing wife.
When he was initially arrested, Amin described the suspect as a “psychopathic serial killer with no respect for human life.”
Khalisha’s lawyer, John Maina Ndegwa, earlier told reporters that his client was innocent and that his confession came after he was tortured by police.
Ndegwa said he last spoke to his client on Friday when the court ordered him to be detained for another seven days, leaving the lawyer baffled as to why he had escaped from prison.
“I’m also puzzled by the news,” he told The Associated Press.
The eight officers accused of helping Khalisha and other prisoners escape are now facing disciplinary action, Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Massingley said.
with mail wires
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