Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kangethe, the Massachusetts man who fled to Kenya after allegedly killing his girlfriend last October, was on Sunday extradited to the United States. As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Kangethe 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.
Kenyan authorities in January ultimately arrested Kangethe at a nightclub in the capital, Nairobi. But the 42-year-old fugitive managed to escape from custody before he was re-arrested in February after a five-day manhunt.
Kenya’s director of public prosecutions, Renson Ingonga, said Kangethe, who has been charged with murder, is expected to appear before the Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday, CNN reported. Kenya and the United States have an extradition treaty.
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“I wish to reiterate my commitment and support, whenever needed, to the United States of America, and in particular the prosecution team as they proceed with the next phase of the case,” Ingonga said in a statement.
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In the wake of Mbitu’s killing, her family informed U.S. media that the 31-year-old victim had intended to break up with Kangethe before her murder. Her body was found in a car at a garage at the 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.
“We have lost a beautiful girl that we all loved,” the victim’s cousin, George Kamu, said at the time. “Whenever you saw that beautiful smile, that’s what you would see all the time.”
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“She was a bright shining star, she had her future, her whole future, ahead of her,” Mbitu’s cousin Virginia Ndungua added. “She had ambition, she had drive. She was a beautiful soul and I think her loss is not just a loss to us but to her friends and to her coworkers and her patients, and to the entire community.”
Mbitu’s mother, Rose Mbitu, also said she had so many questions concerning her daughter’s killing. “I don’t get it. I don’t get how somebody would take somebody’s life away for no reason, even now I have so many questions,” Rose Mbitu said. “The only thing I would now say to Kevin wherever he is, just surrender his life to God because it is only God who can change whatever mentality is in his mind of whatever he did.”
