Fugitive Murder Suspect Kevin Kang'ethe Escapes from Police Custody in Nairobi

Police are on a major hunt on a man who escaped from police custody on Wednesday evening as he was waiting to be extradited to the US to face first degree murder charges. 

Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kang’ethe walked out of police sight at the Muthaiga police station on Wednesday evening and jumped onto a matatu and fled to unknown destination, police said.

He was on a Massachusetts warrant alleging he killed his girlfriend and left her body in a car at the Boston airport.

He had been detained at the police cells pending a ruling on if he should be extradited to the US to face murder charges there in connection with the death of American citizen Margaret Mbitu in October 31, 2023.

Questions are being raised on how he managed to escape given his detention was known and the Occurrence Book indicated no one should see him.

Police authorities suspect inside job as the cause of the escape.

He was meeting a lawyer when he vanished from the station at about 5 pm on Wednesday February 7, police said.

The lawyer and three police officers who were on duty were arrested over the escape, police said.

Top police officers led by Nairobi Regional Police Commander Adamson Bungei rushed to the station on learning Kang’ethe had escaped and described the incident as “just embarrassing”.

Bungei confirmed the suspect had escaped custody and that a hunt on him was ongoing.

“We have teams out there looking for him to face charges. It is true he escaped,” he said.

He added officers who were on duty when he escaped had been arrested for questioning.

He added Kang’ethe escaped on a matatu that was passing on the busy Thika highway.

A fresh hunt on him was immediately launched.

Kang’ethe was arrested in Nairobi’s Westlands area on January 30 at night after being on the run for three months.

Police suspect he had planned his escape well and may take longer to have him rearrested.

Kang’ethe 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 Kang’ethe.

This is after the Director of Public Prosecution moved to court seeking Kang’ethe’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 Kang’ethe on November 2, 2023 and subsequently asked the court to endorse the US warrant and issue directions for the extradition proceedings.

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.

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 charges against Kang’ethe alias Kevin A.

This is because Kang’ethe 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 Kang’ethe.

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 Kang’ethe 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 USA to Kenya amid 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 breakup 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 11pm on October 30.

At some point after that, investigators said she was murdered.

Margaret’s mother, Rose Mbitu, told the media in the US that her daughter was planning to break up with Kang’ethe.

At 6.30pm 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 meadia reported that surveillance footage placed Margaret’s car in Lowell and in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the day before she was killed.

The 31-year-old nurse clocked out of her shift at 11pm 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.

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