Escaped Murder Suspect Kelvin Kang'ethe Arrested
Kang'ethe was arrested in Ngong Town, Kajiado County, almost a week after his daring escape from Muthaiga Police Station.
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Murder suspect Kelvin Kang'ethe, who was accused of killing Kenyan nurse Margaret Mbitu at a US-based airport in 2023 and who escaped from custody at the Muthaiga Police Station has been arrested.
Viral Tea understands that Kang'ethe was arrested in Ngong Town, Kajiado County, almost a week after his daring escape from Muthaiga Police Station.
"He (Kevin Kang'ethe) was arrested in Ngong where he had gone to visit his cousin," an officer attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) told the Nation.
His family members confirmed the arrest, stating that he was taken into custody at the Ngong police station just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday under tight security.
A signpost at Muthaiga Police Station. /PHOTO
A manhunt was launched for him moments after he was reported to have gone missing from the police station where he had been detained after being presented in court on January 31, 2024, following his initial arrest in Westlands.
Preliminary reports had indicated that a man who claimed to be Kang’ethe’s lawyer went to see him at the station and police allowed him to leave the cell and go outside to meet his alleged advocate.
A police report which narrated details of the incident that left the country's security apparatus on the spot indicated that the daring escape happened at around 5.30 pm on Wednesday, in the presence of the station commander who only heard a commotion as her officers attempted to chase after the fleeing Kang'ethe.
Moments later, however, the suspect was said to have fled the office by running away, leaving the lawyer behind, who was later arrested and will be expected to help police with information on what transpired during the visit.
“At the time of the escape the station commander was chairing a meeting/lecture with all the Anti-crime personnel and members of the inspectorate while at her office, she was alerted by a loud noise of officers who were chasing the prisoner along Thika Super Highway but they did not manage to re-arrest him,” the report read in part.
The officers were, however, unable to catch up with him as he managed to outmanoeuvre them in meticulous circumstances, and in broad daylight.
Staff Officer Operations (SOOPs) attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Regional Criminal Investigations Officers (RCIOs) in Nairobi and other senior officers visited the scene to establish how the events unfolded.
The four officers were arrested alongside the alleged advocate and also recorded statements which will help determine if they helped Kang'ethe to escape. They were later interdicted based on being on duty when the incident occurred.
Police thereafter pinpointed the location of the mobile phone believed to have been used by Kang'ethe to Machakos County after it was handed over to him by the advocate, who was believed to have arrived at the police station on Wednesday afternoon, February 7 wishing to talk to his client.
The two had engaged in a brief session, and the lawyer was allowed to approach the suspect under the guise that this was a regular visit by an attorney. As is the norm, the officers escorted the suspect from his cell and took him to the anti-crime office, leaving the two men alone.
The advocate, identified as John Ndegwa Maina, was placed in police custody. Family members such as Kang'ethe's brother, the brother's girlfriend and his cousin, Beatrice Ng'ethe, were arrested in connection with the escape.
Preliminary investigations had revealed that the suspect relied on mobile phone numbers registered by relatives to evade police as his phone signals were switched off.
Kang'ethe, at the time of his escape, was awaiting to be extradited to the United States (US) to face a first-degree murder charge in connection with Mbitu's death at Logan International Airport in Boston in November 2023.
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