By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Kenyan authorities have extradited 42-year-old Kevin Kangethe accused of killing his girlfriend in Boston and fled to the East African country back to the United States.
Kangethe was accused of killing nurse Margaret “Maggie” Mbitu, 31, whose body was found in a parked car November last year at Boston’s Logan International Airport, two days after she was reported missing.
Authorities say he then immediately boarded a flight and fled the country.
According to a CNN report, the suspect for months eluded authorities after he arrived in Kenya in order not to be arrested.
In January, investigators spotted Kangethe at a nightclub in Nairobi and arrested him.
Days after, he escaped from custody and was on the run for a week before he was rearrested in Nairobi in early February.
With his extradition back to the jurisdiction where he allegedly committed the crime, Kangethe is expected to face a murder charge at Suffolk Superior Court, said Renson Ingonga, Kenya’s director of public prosecutions.
“I wish to reiterate my commitment and support, whenever needed, to the United States of America, and in particular the prosecution team as they proceed with the next phase of the case,” Ingonga said in a statement Monday.
The victim lived in Whitman, a Boston suburb, and was the youngest in a family of health care workers.
Her two older sisters and her mother are all nurses.
She was reported missing in late October last year, after she didn’t show up for work, which was uncommon for her.
Her family notified the police and called nearby hospitals to check if she was a patient.
With the help of surveillance cameras, police tracked Kangethe’s Toyota SUV to the airport and found it in a parking garage.
Inside they found Mbitu’s bloodied body with slash wounds on her face and neck, Massachusetts State Police said in an affidavit.
Investigators believed her boyfriend was a suspect, according to a criminal complaint from the state police.
