A man in Moi's Bridge, Uasin Gishu county has been arrested by police for the brutal murder of five young girls he allegedly assaulted and defiled before killing'
The suspect, Evans Juma Wanjala is said to have committed the murders between December 31, 2019 and June 15, 2021.
"Wanjala first defiled his victims before strangling them to death. The minors all aged between the age of 10 and 15 were lured by the suspect from different locations within Moi’s Bridge in Uasin-Gishu county, before being taken to secluded areas where he defiled and strangled them," police said in a statement seen by K24 Digital.
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In a chilling confession, the killer took detectives on a re-enactment tour of how he executed his ghastly missions, he gave a blow-by-blow account of how he took away the lives of Linda Cherono, 13, Mary Elusa, 14, Grace Njeri, 12, Stacy Nabiso, 10 and Lucy Wanjiru, 15, after defiling them.
"The pedophile led detectives to the scene of every murder that he had committed, where charred remains of the murdered minors had earlier been recovered," the office of the Directorate of Investigations (DCI) said.
In one such instance, Linda Cherono’s decomposing body was found on June 15, 2021, near Baharini Dam, after she went missing a few days earlier. The incident that sparked protests along the busy Eldoret - Kitale highway. Cherono’s decomposing remains were found half dressed in a bush, with signs of strangulation, defilement and physical injuries visible on her body.
"The modus operandi of the pedophile was replicated in all the other four murders where the victims were first defiled before being strangled to death, and left in the bushes to be devoured by wild beasts. In two such instances, the lifeless bodies of the victims were stashed in gunny-bags covered with vegetables and left to rot away in the bushes," DCI said.
During the re-enactment, Homicide detectives augmented by their Scenes of Crime, and Photographic & Acoustics counterparts, documented forensically each of the five murder scenes, as the executioner demonstrated how he abducted, defiled, murdered and dumped the bodies of the minors.
Further forensic analysis at the DCI forensic lab connected the suspect to the murder of the minors.
"Detectives have further established that Evans Juma is a habitual offender with pending warrants of arrest against him. The pedophile had on diverse dates in 2018, defiled two minors in Kibwezi and upon being arraigned was released on bond," the sleuths said.
Police say after Wanjala was released, he immediately went into hiding prompting a warrant of arrest to be issued against him by the Makindu Law Courts.
This murder puzzle was cracked after homicide detectives based at DCI headquarters, travelled to Eldoret West and took over the various case files, regarding the wanton defilement and killings of the girls.
The suspect is currently in custody and will be arraigned in court to answer to charges of Murder contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the penal code.
