Fugitive no more: Kevin Kang'ethe arrives in the US to face murder charge

A Kenyan suspected of killing his girlfriend in the US last October has been extradited to Massachusetts and will face a first-degree murder charge tomorrow (Tuesday). 

According to a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Kevin Kang’ethe — once a fugitive after fleeing the US and later escaping from Muthaiga Police Station — left Kenya on Sunday September 2, 2024.

"The extradition comes after DPP Renson Ingonga assured FBI Director Christopher Wray...that his office was keen to ensure justice involving this case was done in an expeditious manner," the statement said.

“To the family of the Late Margaret Mbitu, we offer our support and prayers,” Mr Ingonga added.

Fled the US

Mr Kang’ethe, 40, is alleged to have killed his girlfriend Margaret Mbitu, a home health care aide in the town of Halifax, Massachusetts — between October 30 and November 1, 2023. He then fled to Kenya and a warrant for his arrest was issued by a District court in Chelsea, Massachusetts, which was followed by an extradition request made to Mr Ingonga.

He was arrested on January 30, 2024, in Parklands, Nairobi County, but escaped from custody before being re-arrested.

Evidence showed that Mr Kang'ethe violently attacked and repeatedly stabbed Ms Mbitu in the face and neck leading to her death.

She went missing on October 30, 2023, after leaving her place of work, and efforts by the family to trace her were futile. A preliminary investigation showed that she left her place of work and travelled to Lowell with Mr Kang'ethe where he lived.

The family reported her missing to the Whitman Police Department, who later enlisted the assistance of Massachusetts state police.

Police found out that the deceased and Mr Kang'ethe travelled to Lowell riding in a white Toyota Venza on the morning of October 31, 2023. On November 1, 2023, police discovered the body of Mbitu in the front passenger seat of Mr Kang'ethes' Toyota Venza car.

He escaped to Kenya and went into hiding in various suburbs of Nairobi County, where he used various phone numbers to call his friends in the US as well as his family, relatives, and friends in Kenya.

Given up by relatives

After his initial arrest in Kenya, Mr Kang'ethe escaped from Muthaiga police station under mysterious circumstances. At the time, police said he escaped while meeting with a man who claimed to be his lawyer. 

While he was in the wind, family members are said to have held a meeting where a decision was made that he should be smoked out or if he approached any of them, they should report to the police. 

When the fugitive arrived at the rented house of his cousin, family members alerted police.

“There was no way we could allow him to leave again because his escape from the station was putting a lot of people in trouble. Since we are law abiding citizens, we had long made the decision that if anyone gets him, then we shall hand him over,” a family member told the Nation at the time.

He was captured in Ngong and brought before a Nairobi court, ending a 5-day manhunt. 

Additional report by Sam Kiplagat and Nyaboga Kiage