Why Kenya Has Filed Extradition Charges on Man Wanted in US Over Murder of Girlfriend

Kenya formally filed extradition charges against wanted Kenyan Kenyan fugitive Kevin Kang’ethe alias Kevin A.

This is because Kang’ethe had denounced his US citizenship, officials said.

He had a dual citizenship but he told authorities he had denounced that of America days before leaving Boston last November.

Officials said had he been an American citizen they would have repatriated him back to the US without going through the court process.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecution filed the charges on Wednesday, January 31.

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Renson Ingonga said the matter will be mentioned before Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina on February 1.

This came hours after the prosecution had successfully applied to detain Kang’ethe for 30 days as they investigate him.

The DPP said he on January 31, 2024 received a formal extradition request from the US, through the Office of the Attorney General and department of Justice, from the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division,

Department of Justice, USA, for the arrest and extradition of Kang’ethe.

“Upon thorough perusal of the request, and being satisfied that there is sufficient evidence, the DPP filed a substantive extradition application NO. E356 of 2024 against the fugitive,” said the ODPP.

Kang’ethe who is suspected to have murdered Margaret Mbitu, 31 in Massachusetts, United States of America (USA) between October 30 and November 4, 2023 was arrested on January 30, 2024 within Parklands in Westlands, Nairobi County at 0037hrs.

The fugitive is wanted by the Chelsea District Court in the County of Suffolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America, for the prosecution of an alleged offence of First-Degree Murder, in violation of Massachusetts General Law (G.L), chapter (c) 265, section 1 under the laws of the USA.

It is alleged that the fugitive murdered Margaret on October 31, 2023, by stabbing her multiple times in the face and neck and leaving her in a locked automobile in a parking garage at Boston Logan International Airport before he fled the US.

On arrival in Kenya through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), the fugitive went into hiding within Nairobi County, where he maintained constant communication using various telephone numbers with his friends back in US as well as family members, relatives and friends in Kenya.

Kang’ethe had been on the run since November last year when he flew from USA to Kenya amid a murder probe.
Kenyan detectives had last November received a request from the US authorities to arrest Kang’ethe for alleged murder in Massachusetts.

The victim’s mother said she was planning to breakup 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 6.30pm 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 Margaret, 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.