Suspect in killing of Boston nurse re-arrested after escaping from Kenyan police station

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend in Boston before fleeing to Kenya has been re-arrested following his escape from a police station in Nairobi nearly a week ago, police said.

He was now being held at a different police station and his “custody is assured,” Bungei said, adding that the process of his extradition to the United States will continue.

US investigators say he boarded a plane to Kenya shortly after killing his girlfriend on November 1, 2023. Margaret “Maggie” Mbitu’s body was found in Kang’ethe’s SUV in a parking garage at Boston Logan International Airport two days after she was reported missing.

Bungei called the suspect’s “unfortunate” escape last Wednesday from a heavily guarded police station in Nairobi a result of “unethical conduct.”

According to a police report, Kang’ethe escaped “by running away” after a man claiming to be his lawyer appeared at the station asking to speak with him.

Officers released Kang’ethe from his cell and left them alone in an office, from which he then ran off.

Kang’ethe was arrested outside a nightclub in Nairobi on 30th January. Following an application for extradition from the US, Kenyan authorities began the formal process to send him back to Boston to face murder charges.