Serial killer pleads guilty in Rwanda to killing 14 people

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — A serial killer in Rwanda on Thursday pleaded guilty in court to the killing of 14 people, mostly women.

Denis Kazungu, 34, admitted guilt to charges that included murder, rape and robbery.

He appeared at the Kicukiro Court in the capital, Kigali, and didn't appear to show any emotion during the hearing.

Kazungu smiled as the police led him into the courtroom.

Police discovered 12 bodies on his property, but he said he killed an additional two people whose bodies haven't been found.

Kazungu said that he killed his victims because he said they intentionally infected him with HIV.

But he offered no evidence of this.

The victims include 11 women and one man, authorities said.

The sex of the other two people Kazungu said he killed wasn't immediately clear.

He said he could remember the names of only three of his victims.

Kazungu requested that his trial be conducted behind closed doors so that details about the case wouldn't be publicised to prevent others from possibly being inspired to become serial killers.

Kazungu didn't have a lawyer at the hearing and he's expected to appear in court again on Tuesday.

Police alleged that the suspect lured people from bars to his home in a suburb of Kigali.

Though the identities of his victims haven't yet been officially released, a woman has appeared on local interviews claiming to have escaped from Kazungu and his accomplices.

Nobody else has been charged in the case.

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