Another man ‘confesses’ to defiling, killing five girls – DCI

Police in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County have arrested a youthful man accused of defiling and murdering five girls between 2019 and 2021.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on Twitter on Saturday, July 17, that Evans Juma Wanjala confessed to committing the crimes.

According to authorities, Wanjala assaulted, defiled and strangled his victims in Moi’s Bridge Ward, Soy Constituency in Uasin-Gishu County.

The cases, police say, were reported between December 31, 2019 and June 15, 2021.

Wanjala’s alleged victims were aged between 10 and 15, police said.

“He lured them from different locations within Moi’s Bridge in Uasin-Gishu County and, thereafter, took them to secluded areas, where he defiled and strangled them,” the DCI said on Twitter.

Police have identified the suspect’s alleged victims as Linda Cherono, 13, Mary Elusa, 14, Grace Njeri, 12, Stacy Nabiso, 10, and Lucy Wanjiru, 15.

Wanjala, the DCI said, reenacted how he executed the crimes.

“He led detectives to the scene of every murder that he had committed, where charred remains of the murdered minors had earlier been recovered,” said the DCI.

Linda Cherono, 13, went missing early June, and was found dead near Baharini Dam on June 15, 2021. The discovery resulted in protests on the Eldoret-Kitale Highway.

“Cherono’s decomposing (sic) remains were found half-dressed in a bush, with signs of strangulation and defilement. Her body had visible physical injuries.

“In two instances, the bodies of the victims were stashed in gunny-bags covered with vegetables and left to rot away in the bushes,” the DCI said, adding: “Forensic analysis positively connected the suspect to the murder of the minors.”

Police said the suspect was wanted for other crimes, and an arrest warrant against him had been issued in 2019. Wanjala is alleged to have defiled two girls in Kibwezi in 2018, and was out on bond.

“After his release, he immediately went into hiding prompting a warrant of arrest to be issued against him by the Makindu Law Courts.”

Wanjala was traced to Eldoret West, where he was arrested. He will be arraigned on Monday, July 19.

Evans Juma’s arrest comes a few days after another suspect, Masten Milimo Wanjala, was arrested in connection with child murders in Nairobi.