A man referred to by police as a “bloodthirsty vampire” has admitted to the murder of at least 10 children before meeting a violent end. Masten Wanjala enticed his young victims by posing as a coach, leading them to isolated areas where he would viciously strangle or bludgeon them. Reports suggest that Wanjala would occasionally drug the children and even consume the blood of some victims. The bodies of the victims were frequently discarded in bushes or submerged in sewer lines in the vicinity of Nairobi.
Wanjala’s homicidal spree began when he was still a teenager, with the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Machakos County in 2016. He was apprehended on July 14, 2021, in connection with the deaths of two boys aged 12 and 13. Subsequently, Wanjala confessed to the slaying of at least 10 children, sometimes by extracting blood from their veins before killing them. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations disclosed that Wanjala also revealed the burial sites of some victims.
Following his arrest, Wanjala managed to escape from the Jogoo Road police station on October 13, 2021, triggering a widespread search in Nairobi. He was eventually recognized by schoolchildren in his hometown of Bungoma, about 250 miles from Nairobi, on October 15. Subsequently, a furious mob captured and killed Wanjala, with witnesses recounting that he was strangled to death. The Kenyan Directorate of Criminal Investigations stated that Wanjala met his end through vigilante justice.
Grace Adhiambo, the mother of one of Wanjala’s victims, Brian Omondi, expressed her strong desire to understand the motive behind her son’s murder, emphasizing her wish to see Wanjala face trial to uncover the reasons for his brutal actions.