Suspect in Kware killings detained for 30 days after claiming he was forced to confess to murders

The suspect arrested in connection with the bodies dumped at an abandoned quarry in Kware within Embakasi in Nairobi has claimed that he was tortured "to confess and own up things that are alien to him".

Through lawyer John Maina, Collins Jumaisi Khalisia said he was not involved and has no association with anyone involved in the murders and disowned a confession associated with him by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Monday.

Maina made the claims before Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi of Makadara Law Courts where he was opposing an application by the DCI's Homicide Unit to detain Jumaisi for 30 days to investigate at least 40 cases of murder. Only one victim of what is believed to be the work of a serial killer has been identified.

Chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor stated that postmortem of the bodies showed that the cause of the deaths was as a result of blunt force trauma.

He said the body remains had been dismembered and there is a general similarity in the victims' body remains depicting a serial killer's associated activities.

The DCI had on Monday claimed that Jumaisi had confessed to killing at least 42 people but the suspect claimed he made the remarks under duress while being molested.

Maina said his client needed urgent medical attention and invited Principal Magistrate Gichobi to examine the suspect to confirm the same but Gichobi said she would leave that to the medics.

Inspector Patrick Wachira of the Homicide Unit dismissed Jumaisi's claims and told the court that the suspect was asked whether he had any complaints before being put in cells and did not raise them at the time.

The detective said there are proper channels of lodging complaints similar to the ones raised by Jumaisi and the same were known to him.

Wachira said he and the team investigators are investigating cases where one Rose Atieno and at least 41 unidentified female victims are suspected to have been murdered by Jumaisi on diverse dates between June 2022 and July 11, 2024.

The inspector wanted the suspect detained at Gigiri police station or any other police station in the country that is convenient for mobile investigations which lawyer Maina opposed.

Wachira said the investigating team had managed to retrieve remains of females which which are severely dismembered and at different stages of decomposition, from the dumpsite at Sinai–Kware.

"Between July 12 -15, several families have come forward at the Nairobi Funeral Home to identify the recovered body remains and where two of the eight body remains were positively identified by the respective families," stated Wachira.

"There are more body remains which are yet to be identified through DNA analysis and through the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to confirm the identities."

The detective said Jumaisi's house in the Sinai-Kware area is an active scene of crime which is believed to hold more evidence and which has not been forensically documented for security reasons, and therefore the investigations team requires more time to do the same.

Wachira said the suspect has numerous SIM cards that are not registered using his National identity card and the DCI believes this was meant to conceal his identity and location making it difficult to monitor his residence and whereabouts.

"The respondent (Jumaisi) has a high propensity to continue with his criminal behaviours when released on bond considering he is the one who planned, executed and disposed of the victims' bodies remains," stated the inspector.

Gichobi allowed the DCI to detain Jumaisi for 30 days but ordered that he be escorted to a hospital for treatment and mental assessment.

The magistrate noted that police were battling members of the public who wanted to force their way into the court because they knew the suspect was there and warned the media not to disclose the hospital where the suspect would be taken for medication. The magistrate said the decision was for the safety of the suspect and the hospital.

She also said the media should not mention the police station where the suspect will be held for the safety of the suspect and police officers at the station. The case will be mentioned on August 16.