Margaret Mbitu’s Murder Suspect Kevin Kangethe Finally Arrested After Escaping From Police Custody.
Margaret Mbitu’s Murder Suspect Kevin Kangethe Finally Arrested After Escaping From Police Custody.
Fugitive murder suspect Kevin Kinyanjui Kang’ethe has been rearrested after he dramatically escaped from police custody, police said.
Kang’ethe was arrested in Embulbul in Ngong on Tuesday evening as he sought refuge at one of his relatives’ homes.
Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei confirmed the rearrest.
“We have re-arrested him. He is in custody and we thank all that helped in this,” he said.
He was brought to Nairobi under heavy security ahead of arraignment.
Police had focused on Ngong after all indications showed he was in the area.
Kang’ethe escaped from Muthaiga police station on February 7 in an incident that shocked many.
He was awaiting extradition on a Massachusetts warrant.
He was arrested in Westlands on January 30 and was to be extradited when he escaped from custody.
Kang’ethe, 40, had been detained pending a ruling on whether he should be extradited to face a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of Margaret Mbitu on October 31, 2023.
Massachusetts State Police said in early November 2023, Kang’ethe had left her body in a car at Logan International Airport and boarded a flight to Kenya.
Massachusetts officials said they were working with Kenyan authorities to locate him.
He was later arrested in a nightclub on January 30 after being on the run for three months.
Kang’ethe had renounced his U.S. citizenship, which prompted the extradition process.
A Nairobi court had approved a police application for him to be detained for 30 days while the extradition issue was heard.
Officials said had he been an American citizen, he would have been repatriated without a court process.
Kangethe’s brother was on Monday detained for questioning over his escape from police custody.
Also being questioned was the brother’s girlfriend, police said.
They were persons of interest in the case where Kang’ethe is wanted for murder in the USA and escaped from lawful custody.
The two were picked up on Monday evening from an apartment in Ololua in Ngong and Westlands and taken for grilling.
Kevin Kangethe, the man wanted for murder in the US and who escaped from police custody in Nairobi last week, has been arrested again.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) say Kangethe was arrested in Ngong town, Kajiado county where he had gone to visit his cousin.
41-year-old Kangethe, a former resident of Lowell, Massachusetts, is wanted in the US over the murder of his ex-girlfriend Margaret Mbitu on October 31, 2023. Police in Massachusetts say Kangethe murdered Margaret then abandoned her body at Boston Logan International Airport before fleeing to Kenya.
Kangethe had been in custody at Muthaiga Police Station since January 30 before escaping last week under mysterious circumstances. He is waiting extradition to the US to face murder charges.
