Suspect was jailed and awaiting a ruling on a US extradition request after being accused of killing his girlfriend in Massachusetts.
A Kenyan nationwide awaiting extradition to the United States after being accused of killing his girlfriend and leaving her physique in a automobile at a Boston airport has escaped from police custody in Kenya, police say.
Kevin Kangethe, 40, slipped out of the police station and jumped right into a privately owned minivan, Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei mentioned on Thursday. A seek for him started instantly.
Four law enforcement officials who have been on obligation on the station are in custody and have recorded statements, in line with a police report seen by The Associated Press.
The officers mentioned that about 4pm (13:00 GMT) on Wednesday, a person named John Maina Ndegwa launched himself to the officers as Kangethe’s lawyer and mentioned he needed to talk along with his consumer.
“The officers agreed to his request and removed the prisoner from the cells and took him to [an] office … leaving them there. After a short while the prisoner escaped by running away and left the [lawyer] behind,” the report mentioned.
Officers pursued Kangethe however didn’t catch him, the police report mentioned, including that Ndegwa was arrested.
Bungei mentioned he rushed to the station when he realized of the escape. “We have arrested the officers who were on duty when he escaped to explain how it happened. It is just embarrassing to us,” he mentioned.
Kangethe had been detained pending a ruling on whether or not he must be extradited to face a first-degree homicide cost in reference to the dying of Margaret Mbitu on October 31.
Mbitu, a well being care aide in Halifax, a city within the US state of Massachusetts, was final seen leaving work on October 30 and was reported lacking by her household. The preliminary investigation confirmed Mbitu had left her office and travelled with Kangethe to Lowell, Massachusetts, the place he lived, the prosecution mentioned.
Massachusetts State Police mentioned in early November that Kangethe had left her physique in a automobile at Logan International Airport and boarded a flight to Kenya. Massachusetts officers mentioned they have been working with Kenyan authorities to find him, and he was arrested in a Nairobi nightclub on January 30 after being on the run for 3 months.
A Kenyan court docket accepted a police software for him to be detained for 30 days whereas an extradition request was heard.
Police have been ranked as Kenya’s most corrupt establishment for many years, and his escape raised suspicions that bribes have been paid for his freedom. Other suspected killers have escaped police custody up to now.
On October 14, 2021, Masten Wanjala, who had confessed to killing 10 kids in his hometown of Bungoma in western Kenya, reportedly escaped from police cells in Nairobi below unclear circumstances. A mob in his hometown traced him to a home and beat him to dying a few days later.
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