Kenyan mob LYNCH 'bloodthirsty vampire' child-killer after he escaped from prison
- Police in Kenya say angry locals killed a man, 20, accused of killing 10 children
- Masten Milimo Wanjala was on the run after having escaped prison Wednesday
- He had been due to appear in court yesterday but went missing during roll call
- Three officers on duty at the time of his escape have now been arrested
- The 20-year-old was arrested in Nairobi in July after two bodies were found
- He confessed to killing the children, and eight others, in a five-year killing spree
A man believed to have been a 'bloodthirsty vampire' child murderer was lynched by an angry mob in Kenya today, officials have said.
Masten Milimo Wanjala, 20, was arrested on July 14 over the disappearance of two children, but in a chilling confession, admitted to killing at least ten others over a five-year period, 'sometimes through sucking blood from their veins before executing them', the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said at the time.
He was due for a court appearance on Wednesday in Nairobi over the murders which targeted 12 and 13-year-old children, but disappeared.
A manhunt was launched and the Governor of Nairobi, Mike Sonko, had offered a £1,316 (Sh200,000) reward to anyone able to assist officers in locating Wanjala.
Officials in Kenya have confirmed that a man which locals claim is Masten Milimo Wanjala, 20, (pictured) lynched by an angry mob after he escaped from prison on the day of his trial over the alleged killings of 10 children
But a mob caught up with him today after he was identified by children at his rural home in Bungoma, more than 250 miles from the Jogoo Road police station he had escaped from.
'He comes from this area and so the children saw him and knew it was him and that is when information spread around and locals started pursuing him,' area administrator Bonface Ndiema said.
'In the end he ran into a neighbour's house but he was flushed out and lynched.'
Police had in July described Wanjala's arrest as a major breakthrough in an investigation into a spate of disturbing child disappearances in the East African country.
His victims were drugged and drained of their blood and some of them strangled, police said.
According to police, Wanjala's first victim was a 12-year-old girl he kidnapped five years ago in Machakos county east of Nairobi.
Masten Milimo Wanjala, 20, led police to the scene of one of his alleged killings after he was arrested in July
The murder of his next victim in western Kenya sparked protests, with locals torching the house of the person they suspected killed the boy.
'Unbeknownst to some of the worried families, their children were long executed by the beast and their remains dumped in thickets. Others were submerged in sewer lines in the city and left to rot away,' the DCI said in July.
The bodies of several children feared to have died at Wanjala's hands have yet to be found.
Police had been trying to establish if Wanjala had accomplices or if he was working alone.
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Three officers who were on duty at the Nairobi police station where he was held were arrested this week on allegations that they either aided or 'neglected to prevent' his escape.
A court ordered their release on bail on Friday as a probe into the escape gets under way.
Police spokesman Bruno Shiosho told AFP they have launched a forensic investigation into the identity of the lynched man.
'The locals have said it is him... For now we can confirm that a man locals say is Masten Wanjala who was on the run has been lynched in Bungoma,' he said.
Wanjala was arrested after two bodies - identified as Junior Mutuku Musyoka, 12, and Charles Opindo Bala, 13 - were found in Kabete, outside Nairobi
The suspect had previously led detectives to the site of several of the murders in July, with officers taking photos and videos as evidence.
Many of the sites were thick bushes near maize plantations, but Wanjala also dumped his victim's bodies in open sewage pipes, Capital News reported.
Police said Wanjala had tried to ransom the children, demanding between £200 (KSH 30,000) and £330 (KSH 50,000) from their parents in exchange for their freedom.
Musyoki's mother Felista Wayua was asked for £330 in exchange for her son but was unable to raise the money.
Opindo's father was asked for £200 after his son was kidnapped from Sagaret Primary School in Majengo.
Wanjala's five-year killing spree started when he was just 16, local media reported.
He allegedly kidnapped Purity Maweu, 12, and sucked her blood before leaving her for dead.
Wanjala is believed to have struck again, three years later, in Kimilili, western Kenya, killing Aron, 13.
Junior Mutuku Musyoka, 12, was allegedly kidnapped by Wanjala who demanded £330 from his mother, Felista Wayua, in exchange for her son's freedom
The young boy's death led to violent protests in Kamukuywa, in which residents torched a house they believed belonged to the suspect.
Several bodies of Wanjala's alleged victims are yet to be discovered after he dumped them in sewage lines.
Kenyan newspaper The Standard previously reported the suspect is a repeat offender who has previously spent time behind bars.
In 2020, 242 children under 18 - 125 girls and 117 boys - were reported missing, according to Missing Child Kenya.
Most were reunited with their families, but at least 10 were found dead and 18 are still missing.
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