Man accused of killing and eating 38 people finally arrested after 15 years of repeatedly escaping custody

• A suspected serial killer has been arrested over allegations of killing and eating 38 people between 2010 and 2025.

• The suspect reportedly evaded authorities for years despite previous arrests and escapes from custody.

• His arrest has reignited calls for justice, but the allegations and number of victims remain subject to investigation and judicial proceedings.

For more than a decade, a man wanted in connection with a string of brutal killings in Uganda reportedly slipped through the hands of security forces but has finally been arrested.

On Monday, October 26, 2026, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, announced that security forces had arrested a man identified as Moses Mujurizi, accusing him of killing and eating 38 people across Masaka, Ibanda and Kazo districts.

“I am glad to inform our fellow citizens that the security forces have arrested the evil Mujurizi Moses. The worst serial killer and cannibal in Uganda’s history,” Kainerugaba wrote on X.

“He killed and ate 38 people between 2010 and 2025 in Masaka, Ibanda and Kazo,” he added, promising that the suspect would face a public trial and execution.

The case has brought renewed attention to a series of murders reported in the Greater Masaka region more than a decade ago.

According to Pulse Uganda, a suspect identified as Fred Mujulizi was previously linked to several killings, including attacks in which entire families were reportedly hacked to death inside their homes.

One particularly brutal incident involved the family of Pentecostal pastor Steven Mugambe in Rakai District in January 2013. Reports said attackers broke through the house’s brick walls before killing nine people connected to the pastor’s family.

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Investigators also suspected that the attacks involved accomplices, while the suspect was reportedly known to move between locations, making it difficult for authorities to track him down.

The case was not limited to attacks on families. In October 2026, police arrested a man identified as Kulaish Kamugisha, also known as Fred Mujulizi in previous investigations, over allegations linked to the killing of a woman.

Police reopened older murder files following the arrest, hoping to establish whether the suspect could be connected to other unresolved deaths.

But the most troubling aspect of the earlier investigations was the suspect’s reported history of escaping custody.

Mujulizi was previously arrested but escaped after allegedly bribing security personnel. Reports described subsequent arrests, including an escape from prison and another incident in which he reportedly fled while helping investigators track down alleged accomplices.

The latest announcement has renewed hopes that investigators could finally establish what happened to people whose deaths and disappearances remained unresolved.

According to Uganda Radio Network, police had already begun reviewing murder files dating back to 2012 following the October arrest of a suspect identified as Fred Mujulizi, also known as Kulaish Kamugisha.

The suspect and a co-accused, Huzairuh Kyambadde, appeared before a magistrate in Masaka on October 16, facing murder and human trafficking charges relating to the September 28 killing of a woman. Both were remanded in custody while investigations continued.

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It remains unclear whether the latest announcement concerning Moses Mujurizi refers to the same individual in every earlier report, and investigators have not publicly established that all the alleged killings are connected.

Kainerugaba’s promise of a public execution has also drawn attention to the legal process ahead. 

The suspect’s guilt and any appropriate punishment must be determined through the applicable judicial process, rather than through a declaration by a government official.