The prime suspect in the murders of women whose bodies were found dumped in an old quarry in Mukuru kwa Njenga slums had a habit of disappearing from home, the family has revealed.

Her mother Margaret Rose Jumaisi said the revelation that her son, Collins Jumaisi Khalusha, is the key suspect in the heinous crime shocked the entire family.

She said her last-born son dropped out of school in Form 3 and would disappear from home for years before resurfacing.

Rose said he bought a parcel of land in 2016 and built a house but left it in her care.

In an interview with Citizen TV in their rural home, Collins’ sister said she stayed with him in Busia from when he joined Standard 7 and took him to Uganda to further his studies after he cleared his KCPE.

“He was called to a school but I did not have money to take him there, so I took him to Uganda where he studied for three years. I came back to Busia and on return to Uganda, I did not find him,” the sister said.

She revealed that Collins, who had a name change in his childhood, ran to Nairobi with his friend.

Upon his arrest on Monday at dawn outside a club in Soweto, detectives claimed that Collins confessed to having killed 42 women between 2022 and July 11 this year.

The man, however, told the court upon arraignment that he was tortured and confessed to the murders under duress.

On Wednesday, detectives revisited the house where he stayed and recovered a blood-stained hammer.

The team also recovered a dressing mirror with fingerprints, a mattress, a blood-stained pillow, a red t-shirt, a pair of pliers, two kitchen knives, four pairs of women's shoes and a gunny bag.

Police said the suspect claimed he had unprotected sexual intimacy with all the victims.

He allegedly told police he killed more than 20 women in 2023 alone, the highest and 10 in 2024.

The first victim, he claimed, was his wife although the family said he had never brought home a woman as his wife.

Police said the suspect told them that he would take away the belongings of his victims and give them out to his friends or sell them.

These included mobile phones, clothes, cash, bags and other valuables.

Detectives said on Tuesday they are holding two other suspects who they are treating as persons of interest.

One was found with a handset belonging to the latest victim while the other is the seller of the phone.