Kajiado: Police free serial killer’s look-alike after wrongful arrest

Police have released a 28-year-old man arrested on suspicion of being a serial killer in Kitengela, Kajiado County.

Police said Edward Kireeria was arrested at an entertainment joint in Kitengela on Friday, October 7, on suspicion of being a serial killer who has been on the run for the last three weeks.

The man was arrested following an outcry from members of the public.

He was, however, freed 10 hours later after police established that it was a case of mistaken identity and that he was not Lawrence Wuantai, who is being sought by police.

Apparently, he was taken into custody due to his uncanny resemblance to the 26-year-old suspect who is still at large.

In all identification parades conducted at Kajiado Police station, it emerged that the man was a look-alike who did not even have blood ties with the suspect.

According to Kajiado Sub-county Police Commander David Loronyokwe, detectives had to conduct thorough investigations on the man’s identity including verifying his other documents to be certain before releasing him.

“The man’s family came and helped us identify him. We conducted a thorough countercheck of his document besides the national identity card and that is why the identification process took long,” Loronyokwe said.

“Our interest is to protect all of us. We acted in good faith following public notification and we had to ensure we do a thorough job,” Loronyokwe added.

The police boss further commended members of the public for giving crucial information on security matters, further urging them to detest taking law into their own hands through mob justice.

Serial killer on the loose

The suspect on the run is alleged to have killed two brothers in separate incidents at Purko Kajiado Central over land wrangles.

He is on record threatening to kill family members and other sympathizers.

The threats have left many residents in fear amid calls by detectives to help trace him.