Kenya police offer reward for escaped serial killer suspect

Kenyan police offered a cash reward on Thursday for information leading to the arrest of a suspected serial killer who escaped from a Nairobi police cell.

Police launched a manhunt on Tuesday after Collins Jumaisi, who is accused of murdering and dismembering dozens of women, broke out of a police station in an upmarket area of the Kenyan capital along with 12 Eritreans.

Five officers appeared in court on Wednesday suspected of aiding Jumaisi's escape and have been freed on a 200,000 Kenyan shilling ($1,500) bond, despite prosecutors seeking an order to keep them in custody for 14 days.

The magistrate dismissed the prosecutor's arguments that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had yet to retrieve surveillance footage.

The 33-year-old Jumaisi, described by police as a "vampire, a psychopath", was arrested last month after the gruesome discovery of a number of mutilated female bodies in a rubbish dump in Mukuru slum area in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Police say he has confessed to murdering 42 women over a two-year period from 2022, with his wife his first victim, but the suspect has claimed he was tortured after his arrest.

Officers said Jumaisi and the other men escaped by cutting through a wire mesh roof where he was being held, before scaling a perimeter wall.

"A significant cash reward will be provided to anyone with credible information leading to the suspect's arrest," the DCI said, without specifying an amount.

It is the second time in barely six months that a suspect in a high-profile case has escaped from custody in Nairobi.

The latest twist to the grisly story has appalled many Kenyans, with the bodies also found just 100 metres (yards) from a police station.

Kenya's police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority, has said it was looking into whether there was any police involvement or a "failure to act to prevent" the killings.

Kenyan police are often accused by rights groups of carrying out unlawful killings or running hit squads, but few have faced justice.