Four police officers interdicted, two transferred over escape of murder suspect Kevin Kang’ethe

Four police officers who were manning the Muthaiga Police Station when wanted murder suspect Kevin Kinyanjui Kang'ethe escaped from custody have been interdicted.

In a press briefing on Friday, Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei highlighted that as part of disciplinary measures within the police force, two additional officers overseeing the four policemen in question have been reassigned to different duty stations.

Bungei additionally revealed that Kang'ethe's lawyer, John Ndegwa Maina, remains in police custody. Maina was detained at Muthaiga Police Station shortly after Kang'ethe's escape at around 5.30 pm on Wednesday, February 7.

The authenticity of his role as Kang'ethe's lawyer was called into question following the incident but Bungei disclosed on Friday that preliminary investigations have validated his identity as the genuine legal representative for the suspect.

Maina had reportedly visited Kang'ethe, in his capacity as his advocate, four times before his escape.

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 the 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 (ODPP) on the seriousness of the offence.

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

"There being no objection and since 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 then.

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.