Police recovers body with missing head

Homicide detectives have been left with a puzzle to solve after they recovered a decomposing male body with a missing head.

The body was wrapped in three jackets and carefully placed in a eucalyptus forest at Namugala Cell, Kasanje Town Council in Wakiso district.

By press time, the Police had not revealed the estimated duration that the remains had spent in the forest.

Although the motive is not yet known, seasoned detectives who spoke to New Vision said that from preliminary evidence, in such cases, killers aim at concealing the victim's identity from both loved ones and the Police. 

"The art used in this murder is high profile," a detective privy to the probe said.

Another detective told New Vision that such crimes are organised in nature. "The killers had enough time with the victim to accomplish what they intended under the dark cover of the forest."

Investigations

Quoting an eyewitness, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, said: "A casual labourer working at the eucalyptus forest was the first person to see the body before notifying the Police."

A homicide team tasked to probe the matter has since cordoned off the scene for evidence gathering as the deceased's remains were sent to Mulago Hospital for examination.

According to Onyango, a report of suspected murder has since been registered at Kasanje Police Station. Several statements have been recorded including from the first eyewitness in a bid to find the killers.

Preliminary Police findings indicate that the deceased is approximately six feet tall adult who was wearing a red jacket bearing the words ‘Lifeguard Pleasant Beach.' The body was clad in two other jackets. All other bones were found intact.

A Police crime report recently released indicated that; a total of 4,718 cases of homicide were reported to the Police by the end of 2019 compared to 4,497 cases in 2018, giving a 4.9% increase.

The motives behind such killings include land wrangles, people taking the law into their hands, family misunderstandings, crimes of passion and business rivalry among others.

In ascending order, murders by shooting topped the list, followed by poising then domestic violence.

While launching the 2019 annual crime report, the Police chief, Martin Okoth Ochola, said organised criminal syndicates committed heinous crimes within the regions of Kampala Metropolitan area (in which Kasanje falls), Greater Masaka, and Busoga.

"I am happy to report that in 2019, a total of ten criminal syndicates were dismantled, their members arrested and charged accordingly, and others have been sentenced to death," he said.