US fugitive wanted for murder re-arrested in Kenya

By Wycliffe Muia and Ian Wafulain Nairobi

Kenyan police have re-arrested a fugitive murder suspect who had escaped from police custody, local media report.

Kelvin Kangethe, 41, is wanted by US authorities in connection with the killing of his girlfriend in Boston last October.

He has not commented on the allegations.

He had been detained in Kenya awaiting a decision on whether to extradite him to the US.

Last week, he escaped from a police station in the capital, Nairobi, where he was being held.

Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei said the suspect was captured on Tuesday night in Ngong - on the outskirts of the capital - after a five-day manhunt.

Police had disclosed that Mr Kangethe managed to walk out of the Muthaiga Police Station where he was being detained last week. His legal team said their client's life was in danger.

"We have re-arrested him. He is in custody and we thank all that helped in this," Mr Bungei told The Star news website.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said in a post on X the suspect was arrested following a "scrupulous intelligence-led operation".

He was later taken to Nairobi under heavy security ahead of his arraignment.

Mr Kangethe had sought refuge at one of his relatives' homes in the area at the time he was recaptured, according to the police.

Dozens of detectives had been deployed to search for Mr Kangethe.

Some of his relatives and a city lawyer were detained for questioning over his escape from Muthaiga police station.

Mr Kangethe is suspected to have murdered his girlfriend last October and abandoned her body in a car at Boston's Logan International Airport.

He then boarded a flight to Kenya, his country of origin.

After a months-long manhunt, Mr Kangethe was arrested earlier this month after leaving a club in Nairobi.

The family of Margaret Mbitu, Mr Kangethe's late girlfriend, told US media that she had been planning to end their relationship before she was killed.

She was a 30-year-old Kenyan-American nurse working in Halifax, Massachusetts.

Ms Mbitu was last seen alive leaving her workplace on the evening of 30 October last year.

She was reported missing the same day and her body was discovered two days later.

Authorities believe Mr Kangethe left the US during the window between Ms Mbitu's disappearance and the discovery of her body.

They linked Mr Kangethe to the murder after security footage captured him leaving the airport parking lot where Ms Mbitu's body was later found.

The suspect is now in custody awaiting further charges following his escape.

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