A man accused of killing his girlfriend in Massachusetts escapes from police custody in Kenya

Police in Kenya say a murder suspect who was awaiting extradition to the United States has escaped from police custody

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A man awaiting extradition on a Massachusetts warrant alleging he killed his girlfriend and left her body in a car at a Boston airport escaped from police custody in Kenya, police said Thursday.

Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kangethe slipped out of the police station and jumped into one of the privately owned minivans that are the main transportation source in Kenya, Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei said. A fresh search for him began immediately.

The police chief said he rushed to the station when he learned 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 said.

Kangethe, 40, had been detained pending a ruling on whether he should be extradited to face a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of Margaret Mbitu on Oct. 31, 2023.

Massachusetts State Police said in early November that Kangethe had left her body in a car at Logan International Airport and boarded a flight to Kenya. Massachusetts officials said they were working with Kenyan authorities to locate him, and he was arrested in a nightclub on Jan. 30 after being on the run for three months.