Kevin Kang'ethe: Man who killed woman in the US, got arrested in Nairobi escapes from police custody

The 40-year-old suspect is reported to have gone missing from Muthaiga Police Station where he had been detained after being presented in court on January 31.

Sources disclosed to Citizen Digital that a man claiming to be Kang’ethe’s lawyer went to see him at the station and police allowed him to leave the cell and go outside to meet his alleged advocate.

In a surprising turn of events, Kang’ethe mysteriously walked out of the police station and disappeared.  This is said to have occurred at around 5pm on Wednesday, February 7.

Four police officers who were at the station and the said lawyer have since been arrested as a manhunt for Kang’ethe intensifies.

Kang’ethe is accused of killing a 31-year-old Kenyan-born woman based in Whitman, Massachusetts whose body was discovered inside a vehicle at Boston's Logan Airport in November last year.

Following his arrest in Nairobi, Kang’ethe was presented in court on a miscellaneous application where detectives were granted 30 days to detain him pending conclusion of investigations.

The court while detaining him at Muthaiga police station noted that there was no objection to the application by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on the seriousness of the offence.

Further, the DPP told the court that there are several applications to be made including that of extradition to the US where he is wanted on murder charges.

"There being no objection and owing to the fact that the DPP wants to extradite the suspect and the seriousness of this matter the accused is hereby detained at Muthaiga Police Station matter to be mentioned on 4th of March," ruled magistrate Zainab Abdul.

According to investigators, the suspect and the deceased were both residents of Massachusetts and are said to have been in a relationship.

Preliminary investigations indicate that Kang'ethe violently attacked and repeatedly stabbed the woman in the face and neck area causing catastrophic injuries that led to her death.

Further, the court was told that when fled to Kenya, the suspect went into hiding where he allegedly kept constant communication using various telephone numbers with his friends back in the US and a few of his family and friends here in Kenya.

The deceased identified as Margaret Mbitu was first reported missing by BAMSI, a charitable organization headquartered in Brockton, where she was employed.

In its missing persons report, BAMSI said that the victim was last seen leaving its premises while driving a white SUV. Authorities in the US believe that Mbitu was killed by Kang'ethe, based on evidence recovered from the vehicle registered under his name.

The motive behind the killing is yet to be established.