Kevin Kangethe, a 41-year-old man who fled the United States after allegedly murdering his girlfriend, has been apprehended in Kenya, according to Massachusetts State Police.
The suspect was reportedly arrested in a Nairobi nightclub on Monday following a tip-off to Kenyan authorities.
Kangethe is now anticipated to be extradited back to the United States to face charges for his alleged crimes. "Im extremely grateful to the U.S. Department of States Diplomatic Security Service, the FBI, Kenyan law enforcement agencies, the Kenyan government and the Massachusetts State Police for bringing the person accused of Margaret Mbitus brutal murder into custody," stated Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden in the wake of the arrest.
Massachusetts State Police spokesperson David Procopio added, "We had been keeping tabs on him while the international coordination of the arrest warrant and apprehension plan was being completed."
The victim, Margaret Mbitu, a resident of Whitman, Massachusetts, was initially the focus of a missing person investigation before her body was discovered on Nov. 1 at Logan Airport. "Kangethe fled to Kenya shortly after killing the 31-year-old Whitman resident, with whom he had been in a relationship, according to the investigation by State Police detectives," the Massachusetts State Police revealed in a statement. "Ms. Mbitu's body was located in a parked car in the Central Parking garage at Logan International Airport on the evening of November 1, 2023."
The police further disclosed that their subsequent investigation identified Kangethe, a Lowell resident, as Mbitu's attacker and established that he had boarded a flight to Kenya. "State Police Detectives obtained a warrant charging Kangethe with Ms. Mbitus homicide and began working with the State Department DSS, Interpol, and Kenyan authorities to locate him in Kenya."
The Massachusetts State Police also announced that Kangethe is expected to appear in a Kenyan court "within the next few days" and that "the process to extradite him to Boston for prosecution has begun."
The U.S. Embassy has lauded the efforts of Kenyan law enforcement in apprehending the fugitive.
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