A fugitive who fled US after girlfriend’s murder re-arrested after escaping custody

Kevin Kangethe allegedly killed his girlfriend and left her body in an airport parking garage before fleeing to Kenya

Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kangethe appears at the Milimani law court in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday, 14 February (AP)

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend and leaving her body in a Boston airport parking garage before fleeing to Kenya has been arrested again after escaping police custody.

Kevin Kangethe escaped from a Nairobi police station on 7 February after a man who claimed to be his attorney came to speak with him. Mr Kangethe got out and went on the run after being let out of his cell and taken to an office, according to the Associated Press.

The suspect was re-arrested on Tuesday at a family member’s house in Ngong, Nairobi police chief Adamson Bungei said, according to CNN.

Chief Bungei said “custody is assured” for the suspect, who is now being held at another police station awaiting extradition to the US.

Mr Kangethe is accused of killing his girlfriend, Margaret Mbitu, on 31 October or 1 November. Prosecutors say that her body was found in Mr Kangethe’s car, in a parking garage outside Boston Logan International Airport, after she was reported missing two days earlier.

The 31-year-old had been stabbed in the side of her body and had slash wounds to her face and neck, police said.

After allegedly killing Ms Mbitu, officials say that Mr Kangethe boarded a plane and fled to Kenya.

The suspect evaded law enforcement for months, finally being arrested on 29 January after an undercover police officer spotted him at a Nairobi nightclub.

Mr Kangethe’s escape from police custody last week was “unfortunate” and due to “unethical conduct,” Chief Bungei said.

“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.

The man who claimed to be the suspect’s lawyer has also been arrested, according to Chief Bungei.