DPP starts extradition of Kenyan over death of girlfriend in the US

Kevin Kinyanjui Kangethe who allegedly killed a girlfriend in the US is handcuffed at a Milimani court on January 31,2024 where police were granted 30 days to hold him as extradition process goes on. [Collins Kweyu, Standard]

Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga has filed extradition proceedings against Kevin Kinyanjui Kangethe, a Kenyan accused of killing his girlfriend in the US.

Through prosecutor Vincent Munda, the DPP yesterday told Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina his office has received a request to have the suspect surrendered to the US government.

He said the request letter to have Kangethe extradited to the US had been signed by the US Secretary of State.

Munda said the DPP was seeking further directions from the court on how they will be conducting extradition proceedings.

The court directed that the application be served to the suspect's defence counsel and ordered that they should respond within three days.

"We will be filing an affidavit within three days. We will also be filing an affidavit to oppose bond or bail against the suspect," said Munda.

Onyina directed that the affidavit be filed by close of business on Thursday ahead of the mentioning of the matter on February 5.

Kangethe will be remanded at Muthaiga Police Station in Nairobi after the police were granted 30 days to hold him.

He had been presented before Milimani senior principal magistrate Zainab Abdul when the DCI applied to have him detained to allow for investigations.

Patrick Wachira, from the DCI headquarters homicide investigations unit, said the suspect was arrested on January 30, 2023, within Parklands in Westlands, Nairobi, and booked at Gigiri Police Station in connection with the alleged crime.

In the application, the police indicated that the suspect is being investigated for the offence of first-degree murder in violation of Massachusetts General Law.

He is alleged to have murdered his girlfriend, Margaret Mbitu, on October 31, last year, by stabbing her multiple times before boarding a plane to Kenya.

The application presented in court by the police revealed that on November 1, around 6.35 pm, police in the US discovered the body of Mbitu in the front passenger seat of the suspect's cars.

The body was locked in a Toyota Venza which had remained in the parking since the evening of October 31, 2023.

Police said after he entered Kenya through JKIA, Kangethe went into hiding within Nairobi.

He is further said Kangethe to have maintained constant communication using various telephone numbers with his friends in the US and a few relatives and friends in Kenya.

"The respondent herein is a flight risk as he fled to Kenya to evade justice and to hide himself from his family and the authority. Also, his security is at risk as the alleged crime has elicited public emotions," said the police.

The late Kangethe's girlfriend, according to the police reports, was working as a home healthcare aid in the town of Halifax, Massachusetts.

"That from the time the respondent was arrested, the time to conclude investigations and subsequent extradition to the US has not been adequate and the applicant requires 30 days to enable completion of extradition process while the respondent is in custody," the police told the court in their application.

Abdul also allowed an application by the DPP to have the suspect stand a murder trial in the US.