I was tortured, forced to confess to Kware killings, Khalusha tells court

Police load one of the sacks containing the body of an unidentified person into a vehicle on July 14, 2024, after recovery at the Kware dumpsite in Nairoibi's Eastlands. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Collins Juma Khalusha, the prime suspect in the Kware dumpsite murders will remain in custody for 30 days. 

Makadara Law Courts in Nairobi allowed detectives to remand the suspect to complete investigations. 

The defense counsel John Maina Ndegwa had opposed the application to detain his client claiming that he was tortured, molested and forced to confess to the killings. 

"My client as of now requires urgent medical attention after he was subjected to inhumane mistreatment so that he could confess to issues which are alien to him," he told the court.

Earlier, Kiambu Law Courts where Khalusha had been presented declined to charge him when investigators attempted to file a miscellaneous for detaining him for more days.

Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Peter Ooko directed that the case be heard at the Makadara Law Courts where Directorate of Criminal Investigations homicide detectives in an affidavit said they are investigating 42 cases of murder including that of Rose Atieno. 

The document states that the victims were allegedly murdered by the suspect on diverse dates between June 22 and 11 July 2024 within Sinai area in the Embakasi South sub-county. 

The affidavit sworn by Patrick Wachira, the Embakasi Sub County Criminal Investigations Officer (SCCIO) states that several cases of missing persons, mostly females, had been reported at Kware Police Station and other stations around. 

The senior detective told the court that between July 11 and 15, 2024, eight bodies had been recovered from the Kware dumpsite and moved to city morgue for preservation and identification pending postmortem to ascertain the cause of death. 

“Between July 12 to July 15, 2024, several families have come forward to identify the remains where two of the eight body remains were positively identified,” the officer stated. 

Collins Jumaisi Khalusha is escorted to the Kiambu Law Courts on July 16, 2024. [AFP]

Wachira said that on July 15, the Chief Government pathologist Johansen Oduor conducted a postmortem on some of the recovered bodies and reported that the cause of death was blunt force trauma. 

The court heard that bodies had been dismembered and there is general similarity in all the victims’ remains depicting a serial killer associated with criminal activities. 

The investigator said that some samples collected from the remains have been forwarded to government chemists for further analysis and that there are more bodies that are yet to be identified through DNA analysis. 

“During the time of arrest of the respondent, the police officers managed to recover many exhibits of crucial evidential value on the ongoing investigations, which needs more time to be submitted for forensic laboratories for processing,” said Wachira. 

According to the detective, Khalusha's rental house in Sinai-Kware is still an active crime scene which is believed to hold more evidence that has not been forensically documented for security reasons therefore the investigating team needs more time to prepare and process the same.  

Wachira told the court the suspect could be a flight risk since he lives in a rental house not far from where he allegedly used to dump the dismembered bodies. 

Further, the SCCIO claimed that the suspect has the propensity to continue with criminal behaviours if released on bond or bail considering he is the one who allegedly planned, executed and disposed of victims' body remains. 

He said that the life of the suspect could be in danger when set free since the case has attracted public outcry. 

“From the time the respondent was arrested, the time to conclude this complex investigation has not been adequate and the applicant requires 30 days to enable him to conclude investigations while the respondent is in lawful custody,” the affidavit read. 

But Ndegwa argued that what was being tabled in court was nothing concrete but mere allegations and apprehension and his client has a right to bail. 

The court directed that the matter be mentioned on Thursday pending completion of investigations.