Thread by @Kauswe3

THE LUSAKA STRANGLER – a ghastly World record Zambia holds

A Thread

ZAMBIA holds a nasty world record. Zambia was the home of the Lusaka Strangler who killed more victims in a shorter period than any serial killer before or since. He killed one person per week from January to September 1980.

The victims were often stranded visitors to the Capital or those in transit though a number of minors and made up the victim age-group of 10-32 years-old.

By the end of June 1980, the killing spree had claimed 23 victims and the manner in which the last body in June was crudely hanged from the fence which surrounded the NIPA was deliberately calculated to shock and instill terror in Lusaka residents.

Lusaka was tense for the months that the killings continued with wild rumours of who was likely behind them. A reward of K10,000 – Ten Thousand Kwacha – a lot of money at the time, was put up for information leading up to the arrest or capture of the killer(s)

and a dusk to dawn curfew was in place for the period restricting movement in Lusaka. This did not stop the killings.

The Lusaka Strangler was to kill at least 29 women. The police launched Operation Rosemary to capture the killer. By the time the Strangler was caught, the official list of victims was 31 with 2 victims surviving.

The police worked out the Modus operandi of the killer after some intensive investigation. His technique was simple, approach a woman, seduce her, take her for a drink, rape and strangle her. He would then dump the body at a place where it would be found easily.

For nine months, once a week like clock work, the strangler killed a woman. Dead bodies started being found in a wide area around Lusaka and the newspaper headlines were full of the attempts by the police to catch the serial killer.

The team was lucky to have a break in their investigations by the coming forward of one of the survivors of the attacks Josephine Nora Mukatasha. Officers set up a trap to lure the killer at Old Kamwala Bus Station in Lusaka where she identified her attacker and had him arrested.

The man she identified was a Zambia Army soldier Milton Mufungulwa Sipalo. A search led by the team of officers at the home of the suspect found a number of items belonging to nine of the victims

The story ends in a final macabre twist. While transferring Sipalo to a conference room for interrogation he escaped the officers escorting him and rushed to the roof of Lusaka Central Police Station

He then stood on the roof and threatened to throw himself off the roof. Despite hours of pleading from police, the fire brigade and onlookers, he plunged off the roof top to his death.

Thus ended the life of the most prolific serial killer in Zambian history. He had killed women at a rate of one a week except for the pause in August. For nine months he terrorised Lusaka. Nurses slept at UTH or clinics for fear of the Strangler.

The End