For almost a year, a murder suspect who thought Nairobi was a safe haven after allegedly killing his girlfriend in the US last October and dumping her body in a car at Boston’s Logan Airport was on Tuesday charged with murder.
Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kang’ethe was wanted for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Margaret Mbitu, a home health care aide in the town of Halifax, Massachusetts- between October 30 and November 1, 2023, before fleeing the country.
On Tuesday, Kang’ether pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.
He was wanted for allegedly killing his girlfriend, whose body was found in an SUV at Logan Airport on October 31.
On Tuesday, prosecutors described how Kang’ethe took a Lyft ride on October 30, 2023, from his Lowell home to Mbitu workplace, where he met her as she was getting off work at about 11pm.
He then allegedly drove her back home in the vehicle she was driving, which prosecutors said was registered to him but was being used at the time by the victim, after meeting her at work.
Sometime between leaving her job and arriving at his home, prosecutors said he “brutally attacked” her in the car with a knife, causing multiple sharp force injuries to Mbitu’s body, according to prosecutors, who said there were 10 wounds just to her face and neck alone.
Prosecutors said Kang’ethe then drove around looking for a place to dispose of the body, answering two calls from family and coworkers asking where she was. He told them she had suffered an injury and couldn’t come to the phone. Eventually, they said he discarded her cell phone in a dumpster in Chelsea. That phone was used by investigators to help them track him and collect surveillance video.
Kang’ethe left her body in the front seat of the heavily tinted car from the time of her death until some 30 hours later, when he drove the car to Logan Airport, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors further said that Mbitu’s body was found in the front seat, face down with the seat reclined. They said her body was covered with random items to make it harder to see her.
In court on Tuesday, the victim’s family were visibly distressed and in tears as prosecutors detailed the events leading up to her death.
Kang’ethe is scheduled to return to court on November 5 for a pretrial hearing.
In a statement on Monday, the family of the victim thanked Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden for his office’s efforts to extradite Kang’ethe.
“Our family has been notified by District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office that the process for bringing justice for our beloved Maggie will continue tomorrow with the arraignment of the person charged with her murder,” Mbitu’s family said in a statement released Monday. “We are deeply grateful to the District Attorney, investigators, police and victim advocates who have supported our family and are ensuring Maggie’s killer is held responsible,” the stamen read in part.
