Kevin Kangethe, the Massachusetts man wanted by U.S. authorities for allegedly killing his girlfriend last October, has been re-arrested after he escaped from a Kenyan jail last week.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, the 41-year-old suspect immediately fled to Kenya from the U.S. after he allegedly killed his girlfriend Margaret Mbitu and left her body in a car at a Boston airport garage. Kangethe, who was being held at Kenya’s Muthaiga Police Station following his January 29 arrest, managed to escape from custody on February 7.
His escape also came after a court in the East African nation gave the green light for the murder suspect to be detained for 30 days while awaiting possible extradition to the United States. Kangethe was eventually re-arrested in the Kenyan town of Ngong on Tuesday following a five-day manhunt, Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei announced, per BBC.
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“We have re-arrested him. He is in custody and we thank all that helped in this,” Mr Bungei told The Star. The East African nation’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) also said Kangethe was re-taken into custody after a “scrupulous intelligence-led operation within Ngong township in Kajiado County.”
“The murder suspect had escaped from Muthaiga Police Station where he was being held awaiting extradition to the United States to answer to a charge of first degree murder,” the DCI added.
Police in a previous statement said that Kangethe walked out of the station while he was having a meeting with a man claiming to be his lawyer. The two men were in a private room when the suspect escaped.
“After a short while the prisoner escaped by running away and left the lawyer behind,” the statement said. Kangethe is said to have escaped while the head of the station was having a meeting with all the other officers.
Police said Kangethe went to a relative’s residence in the town to seek refuge, BBC reported. A city lawyer as well as some of Kangethe’s family members were also taken into custody for interrogation linked to his escape.
Mbitu’s family informed U.S. media that the 31-year-old victim had intended to break up with Kangethe before her killing. Her body was found in a car at a garage at Boston Logan International Airport on November 1, 2023, NBC 10 Boston reported at the time. That was two days after she was reported missing.
Authorities said Mbitu suffered large slash wounds on her face and neck area as well as a puncture on her side. Kangethe is said to have checked into a flight to Kenya after he obtained airline tickets on November 2.
Kangethe now faces additional charges in connection with his escape.
