- Kengethe is on a Massachusetts warrant alleging he killed his girlfriend and left her body in a car at the Boston airport.
- Kangethe was arrested in Nairobi’s Westlands area on January 30 at night after being on the run for three months.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
A man who was waiting to be extradited to the US to face first-degree murder charges escaped police custody in questionable circumstances.
Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kange'the slipped out of police sight at the Muthaiga police station on Wednesday, February 7 evening and jumped onto a matatu and fled to an unknown destination, police said.
Kengethe is on a Massachusetts warrant alleging he killed his girlfriend and left her body in a car at the Boston airport.
He escaped as he met a lawyer at the police station.
He had been detained at the police cells pending a ruling on whether he should be extradited to the US to face murder charges there in connection with the death of American citizen Margaret Mbitu on October 31, 2023.
Kangethe was arrested in Nairobi’s Westlands area on January 30 at night after being on the run for three months.
Top police officers led by Nairobi Regional Police Commander Adamson Bungei rushed to the station on learning Kangethe had escaped and described the incident as “just embarrassing”.
“We have arrested the four officers who were on duty when he escaped to explain how it happened. It is just embarrassing to us,” he said.
Also detained was the lawyer who had been meeting him.
He added that Kangethe escaped on a matatu that was passing on the busy Thika highway.
A fresh hunt on him was immediately launched. Police suspect he had planned his escape well and may take longer to have him rearrested.
Kangethe was produced in court on January 31 where police successfully applied he be detained at Muthaiga police station for 30 days pending among others mitigation on his extradition to Boston where the crime happened.
This was after it emerged he had denounced his American citizenship.
A court was to on February 9 rule on the application for extradition of Kange'the.
This is after the Director of Public Prosecution moved to court seeking Kangethe's extradition when the matter came up for mention on February 1.
Prosecution counsel Vincent Monda formally requested extradition to the US where the suspect, Kang’ethe, is implicated in the murder of his girlfriend Margaret Mbitu on October 31, 2023.
He told the court that the United States issued a warrant of arrest against Kangethe on November 2, 2023, and subsequently asked the court to endorse the US warrant and issue directions for the extradition proceedings.
Noting that Kang’ethe was on January 31 detained in custody for 30 days at Muthaiga police cells, the prosecution counsel told the court of their plans to file an affidavit opposing Kang’ethe's release on bail pending hearing and determination of the extradition proceedings.
The suspect’s lawyer sought directions on surrendering Kang’ethe to the US and requested time to respond to the DPP's application.
The team however opposed an impending affidavit aimed at barring Kang’ethe's release, claiming it disregards his rights.
Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina was to give further directions on the matter and issue orders related to the bond issue on Monday, February 9. Kenya formally filed an extradition charge against Kangethe alias Kevin A.
This is because Kangethe had denounced his US citizenship, officials said.
He had a dual citizenship but he told authorities he had denounced that of America days before leaving Boston last November.
Officials said had he been an American citizen they would have repatriated him back to the US without going through the court process.
On January 31, 2024, the DPP received a formal extradition request from the United States of America, through the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, from the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, Department of Justice, USA, for the arrest and extradition of fugitive Kangethe.
He is set to face first-degree murder charges at Chelsea District Court in the County of Suffolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
According to the DCI, both the suspect and the deceased woman were residents of Massachusetts, Boston and were in a relationship.
Preliminary investigations suggest Kangethe violently attacked and repeatedly stabbed the lady, causing fatal injuries. After returning to the country, he went into hiding, maintaining communication with various telephone numbers.
The court was told he had no fixed abode, as he hasn't been seen at his home in Thogoto, Kiambu County, since fleeing the US. He had been on the run since November last year when he flew from the USA to Kenya amid a murder probe.
Kenyan detectives had last November received a request from the US authorities to arrest Kangethe for alleged murder in Massachusetts. The victim’s mother said she was planning to break up with the suspect.
An arrest warrant was issued on November 2, after Massachusetts State Police found the body of 31-year-old Margaret in a car at Boston’s Logan Airport Central Parking garage the night before.
Whitman police said Margaret was last seen leaving work in Halifax around 11 pm on October 30.
Margaret’s mother, Rose Mbitu, told the media in the US that her daughter was planning to break up with Kang’ethe.
At 6.30 pm on November 1, police officers in Boston found Margaret’s car with her body inside.
US authorities are convinced of one thing—that Kang'ethe, 40, murdered Magret, as she was affectionately known to family and close friends, before buying tickets for a 16-hour flight to Nairobi, a move detectives believe was to avoid prosecution.
The tickets, it has now emerged, were bought early on October 31 morning, just hours after Margaret’s death.
Massachusetts authorities are hoping to take advantage of Kenya’s extradition treaty with the US, which led to the conviction of two members of the notorious Akasha family on drug trafficking and other charges.
Preliminary evidence gathered from the deceased’s car indicated that Kang'ethe was the primary suspect.
Margaret lived with her family in Whitman and worked in Boston Area Multi-Services Inc (Bamsi) in Brockton, about 7.2 kilometres away. On October 30 night, she drove 62 kilometres to Boston Logan Airport to see Kang'ethe.
He lived in Lowell, 80 kilometres from Margaret’s home in Whitman.
Local media reported that surveillance footage placed Margaret’s car in Lowell and Chelsea, Massachusetts, the day before she was killed. The 31-year-old nurse clocked out of her shift at 11 pm last October 30.
She got into her white Toyota Venza and drove off, in what would be the last time she would be seen alive.
Those close to Margaret knew she would return home after work.
Family members reported her missing after she did not return home and could not be reached by phone.
It is still unknown whether she knew her partner was planning to travel to Kenya.
Two days later, Massachusetts State Police officers found Margaret’s body in her car. Authorities have not revealed much, except that preliminary evidence points to Kang'ethe as the prime suspect.
Margaret was a naturalised US citizen. She graduated from Quincy College in 2018 and worked for Bamsi, a non-profit organisation.