Confessed killer traces footsteps to two graves
A man who has confessed to killing several minors in various parts has identified the spots where he buried two of the victims in Bungoma county.
Marsden Wanjala, who is linked to the murder of minors in Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu and Machakos counties, caused a stir in Makhele village in Webuye West constituency when he took detectives to the spots where he buried the minors.
Anxious crowds struggled to have a glimpse of Wanjala who was under heavy security. He hails from the area and had killed three boys in Bungoma and buried them before fleeing to Nairobi.
He confessed to a secret murderous campaign spanning six years and in more than four counties where he executed all his victims single-handedly, some with his bare hands.
For every target he eliminated across the country, he marked the calendar and kept a record of his dark victories by scribbling names on dates.
After arriving at Makhele, the team led by homicide unit boss Martin Nyuguto went to Sosio village in Kimilili constituency where Wanjala had killed and buried a victim.
Nine-year-old Emmanuel Wafula was defiled and killed before his body was dumped in a pit latrine on February 2019. The minor’s decomposing body was discovered days later by a neighbour who informed residents.
The death of the Standard Two pupil at Kingstar Academy irked residents who stormed the homestead where the body was found and torched it before destroying property and crops.
Police also arrested Haron Ajega, the owner of the homestead where the body was found in the latrine on suspicion of being behind the killing of the minor. Ajega later died in August last year at Webuye County Hospital after battling an unknown illness.
Killed and dumped
Mary Ajega, his widow, said her husband, who was out on bond, died due to stress after being accused of being behind the death of the minor.
Gladys Wafula, the mother of the minor, said she has not yet come to terms with the loss of her second-born whom she loved very much.
“My son was very jovial and we all thought that it was the old man who had killed him, only for us to be told that it was not Ajega who killed him but Wanjala,” she said.
Wanjala later led the detectives to another home about 400m from their Makhele home to a scene where he killed and dumped 13- year-old Augustine Wafula Mukhongo.
The minor disappeared on April 12 and was later found dead on April 16, a few kilometers from their home. His decomposing body was discovered by a relative in a maize plantation in Chebukwa area.
Milka Mukhongo, the grandmother, said her grandson left to play football with friends after eating lunch on the fateful day, never to return.
Joseph Wafula Mukhongo, the deceased’s elder brother said the family had been saddened by the death of the Class Four pupil in a local school.
“We are only five in our family and we are total orphans who have been raised by our grandmother after our parents died,” he said.
He said following the death, the family decided to bury Wafula in line with Bukusu tradition. They performed rituals to curse his killers.
“After we buried my brother and elders performed the rituals, it did not take a month before Wanjala’s killer was arrested in Nairobi,” he said.
“My brother loved football and would be seen with other children playing with Wanjala, little did we know he would eventually kill him,” he said amid tears.
Wanjala also led detectives to another home in Kabuchai constituency where he had killed and buried five-year-old Simon Simiyu in 2017.
