Beheaded girl: Suspected killer takes Police on wild goose chase

Sep 23, 2020

Nuwashaba allegedly revealed four other murders of children after his arrest last Monday.

CRIME   SECURITY

Following misinformation and leads that go nowhere can be frustrating for the Police.

Joseph Nuwashaba, the prime suspect arrested over the beheading of five-year-old Faith Kyamagero, knows all too well that some leads never materialise in a case.

Kyamagero, a resident of Masaka city, was beheaded early this week and her torso dumped at the fence of the Masaka National Water and Sewerage Corporation office. Police said the girl was first defiled.

Nuwashaba was later arrested at the gate of Parliament in Kampala, with Kyamagero's head which he said he wrapped as a gift.

But for four days running, until yesterday, Nuwashaba led Police operatives from the Police's Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) on a wild goose chase in search of more evidence.

New Vision has learnt that security operatives turned every stone in search of missing children that the suspect claimed to have murdered and buried in different districts in western Uganda, but in vain.

Nuwashaba allegedly revealed four other murders of children after his arrest last Monday.

Yesterday, the CID spokesperson, Charles Mansio Twiine, confirmed that the suspect had taken them to wrong sites.

"He has been lying. We already have a case with concrete evidence against him," Twiine said, adding that investigators are only interested in what could have been the motive.

So far, the Police has subjected Nuwashaba, to two mental health check-ups which showed that he is in good health.

However, why Nuwashaba has consistently lied and given contradicting statements remains a subject of investigation.

Security operatives have since visited places in Lyantonde, Mbarara, Masaka, Kamwenge and Bushenyi, where he hails from.

According to Police findings, Nuwashaba was raised in Kamwenge by a man believed to be a witch doctor. Police findings indicate that the witchdoctor, now deceased, took up Nuwashaba after his family abandoned him.

Nuwashaba lost his mother when he was a toddler.

Confession

Last week, Nuwashaba, recorded a confession statement in the murder of Kyamagero at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's Court in Kampala.

The Criminal Investigations Directorate boss, Grace Akullo, confirmed that Nuwashaba had recorded an ‘extra-judicial statement.'

An extra-judicial statement is recorded when a suspect confesses during Police interrogations to have committed the crime and is taken before a magistrate to record an additional statement.

Sources said, while at Buganda Road Court, Nuwashaba allegedly revealed that he was hired by a woman to execute the mission.

The woman (name withheld) was arrested by security operatives on Saturday.

Police said Nuwashaba, together with others, allegedly first drained blood from the girl's body, before they travelled to Kampala by car.

It had earlier been suspected that he travelled by bodaboda.

Earlier, residents told the Police that they had seen a black vehicle in the neighbourhood shortly before Kyamagero went missing. Sources said Nuwashaba was dropped off in Nateete, a city suburb and was allegedly instructed to deliver Kyamagero's head to a building in Ndeeba, a city suburb commonly known for timber and motor spare parts.

He, however, told officers that he developed cold feet and opted to spend a night in a lodge.

However, in the ongoing scene of crime reconstruction, Nuwashaba did not show the Police the lodge. He changed the narrative by showing the Police stairs near a fuel station in Ndeeba, as the place where he spent a night.'

Kyamagero's father, Pastor Charles Ssenyonga, said he now believes that Nuwashaba went to his home with ill-motive.

Last Monday, during interrogation, Nuwashaba allegedly claimed he was paid sh80,000 to deliver the said ‘gift' to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.

"The details will be corroborated with scientific evidence before we can conclusively pronounce ourselves on the matter (who gave him the package)," a source privy to the investigations, said.

According to Akullo, Nuwashaba arrived at Parliament at about 10:00am on Monday, carrying a box containing an item in an orange gift wrapping.

At the checkpoint, he was asked about the wrapped item. In his response, according to Akullo, the suspect said: "It is a gift I have brought for the speaker."

"When the investigators demanded to see the gift, they discovered a human head. As a policy, all gifts to legislators are checked by security," Akullo said.

In her communication to the House on Tuesday, Kadaga asked the Police to expedite the investigations into the incident.

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