A man who is wanted in the US for allegedly killing a woman will be detained for 30 days pending investigations.
This will be preceded by his planned extradition to the USA to face charges of murder of Magret Mbitu.
While detaining Kevin Kinyanjui Kangethe, senior principal magistrate Zainab Abdul noted that there was no objection to the prosecution application and the seriousness of the offense.
“Since there is no objection from the respondent and owing to the serious nature of the offense being investigated that is murder and further because the prosecution wishes to commence extradition proceedings against the respondent the same is allowed as prayed and the respondent to be detained at muthaiga police station for 30 days.
we shall mention this matter on the 4th of March to confirm the status of the extradition proceedings,” she ruled on Wednesday, January 31.
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The court was informed that Kangethe allegedly killed the woman in October last year.
The prosecution plans to make several applications, including his extradition to the US for murder charges.
According to the DCI, both the suspect and the deceased were residents of Massachusetts, Boston, and were in a relationship.
Preliminary investigations suggest Kangethe violently attacked and repeatedly stabbed the lady, causing fatal injuries.
After returning to the country, he went into hiding, maintaining communication with various telephone numbers.
The court was told he has no fixed abode, as he hasn’t been seen at his home in Thogoto, Kiambu County, since fleeing the US.
Kangethe was arrested on Monday night at a club by police who had been tipped off.
The man had an Interpol Red Notice on his head.
He had been on the run since November last year when he flew from the USA to Kenya amid a murder probe.
Kenyan detectives had last November received a request from the US authorities to arrest Kangethe for alleged murder in Massachusetts.
The victim’s mother said she was planning to break up with the suspect.
An arrest warrant was issued on November 2, after Massachusetts State Police found the body of 31-year-old Margaret in a car at Boston’s Logan Airport Central Parking garage the night before.
Whitman police said Margaret was last seen leaving work in Halifax around 11 pm on October 30.
At some point after that, investigators said she was murdered.
Margaret’s mother, Rose Mbitu, told the media in the US that her daughter was planning to break up with Kang’ethe.
At 6.30 pm on November 1, police officers in Boston found Margaret’s car with her body inside.
US authorities are convinced of one thing—that Kang’ethe, 40, murdered Magret, as she was affectionately known to family and close friends, before buying tickets for a 16-hour flight to Nairobi, a move detectives believe was to avoid prosecution.
The tickets, it has now emerged, were bought early on October 31 morning, just hours after Margaret’s death.
Massachusetts authorities are hoping to take advantage of Kenya’s extradition treaty with the US, which led to the conviction of two members of the notorious Akasha family on drug trafficking and other charges.
Preliminary evidence gathered from the deceased’s car indicated that Kang’ethe was the primary suspect.
Margaret lived with her family in Whitman and worked in Boston Area Multi-Services Inc (Bamsi) in Brockton, about 7.2 kilometers away.
On October 30 night, she drove 62 kilometres to Boston Logan Airport to see Kang’ethe.
He lived in Lowell, 80 kilometers from Margaret’s home in Whitman.
Local media reported that surveillance footage placed Margaret’s car in Lowell and Chelsea, Massachusetts, the day before she was killed.
The 31-year-old nurse clocked out of her shift at 11 pm last October 30.
She got into her white Toyota Venza and drove off, in what would be the last time she would be seen alive.
Those close to Margaret knew she would return home after work. Family members reported her missing after she did not return home and could not be reached by phone.
It is still unknown whether she knew her partner was planning to travel to Kenya.
Two days later, Massachusetts State Police officers found Margaret’s body in her car.
Authorities have not revealed much, except that preliminary evidence points to Kang’ethe as the prime suspect.
Margaret was a naturalized US citizen.
She graduated from Quincy College in 2018 and worked for Bamsi, a non-profit organization.
