Self-confessed serial killer Masten Wanjala, who is reported to have escaped from police custody at Jogoo Road Police Station, is dead.

Wanjala is reported to have been lynched by a mob at his home Mukhweya village in Bungoma County on Thursday evening.

The area chief Boniface Ndiera has confirmed the death of the most wanted serial killer and also intimated that Wanjala was identified by locals while he was playing soccer nearby.

Wanjala was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday over the murders of at least 14 children before his mysterious and baffling escape from police cells.

Three police officers suspected to have helped him escape from police custody were arrested by their colleagues from the Nairobi Regional Criminal Investigations office.

It remains a puzzle how Wanjala, who is supposed to be heavily guarded, escaped from police cells in Nairobi and travelled through several counties only to emerge in Bungoma.