In Rwanda, Aloy Tubarimo, known as "the cyclist taxi killer," was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 for murdering seven workers in this occupation to steal their bicycles. The crimes took place during 2007 in the Bugesera district, where Tubarimo was born.
Tubarimo, an orphan and former perpetrator of the Rwandan genocide of 1994, was released in 2003 and started committing crimes, stealing goats and crops. Between August and November 2007, he killed seven bicycle taxi drivers using a modus operandi that involved drugging his victims, beating them, and burying them in his garden.
To sell the stolen bicycles, Tubarimo relied on the help of three friends who were also accused of selling stolen goods, although they claimed they did not know the bicycles came from the murders.
Although Tubarimo's lawyer tried to argue the unconstitutionality of the sentence, the judge dismissed his defense. The killer confessed to having planned to murder eight people, but only succeeded in killing seven. His attempt to excuse his actions by citing his economic situation to justify the crimes was quickly rebutted by the authorities.
The case of Aloy Tubarimo shocked Rwanda, and despite the death penalty being abolished a year before his conviction, life in solitary confinement was the punishment imposed on the cyclist taxi killer.
