Kevin Adam Kinyanjui Kang’ethe, a Kenyan man facing first-degree murder charges in the United States, and a lawyer who was arrested in connection with his escape from a police station in Nairobi, are cousins.
Authorities established their relationship following the arrest of city lawyer Beatrice Ng’ethe last week Friday. DCI boss Mohamed Amin confirmed DCI officers picked up Ng’ethe from her apartment in Nairobi for interrogation in connection with the escape of Kevin Kang’ethe from lawful custody at Muthaiga Police Station.
NairobiWire understands that Kang’ethe, who was awaiting extradition for the murder of his girlfriend Margaret Mbitu in the US, contacted his cousin. Sources indicate that the 42-year-old fugitive was seeking legal counsel from Beatrice Ng’ethe.
A source intimated, “Kinyanjui approached her with the sole purpose of seeking legal advice on how to navigate the murder case and address the plans for his extradition to the US.”
The lawyer and the fugitive had also met at Muthaiga Police Station on Tuesday, February 6, a day before Kang’ethe walked barefoot out of the law enforcement complex where he was being held.
On Monday, police finally released the lawyer on Sh100,000 cash bail.
Kang’ethe On The Run With Brother?
Meanwhile, investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are also pursuing a second suspect suspected to be Kevin Kang’ethe’s brother, presumed to be the orchestrator of Kevin’s dramatic escape from Muthaiga Police Station.
Based on police findings, the male suspect, who is thought to have rendezvoused with Kang’ethe at Muthaiga Police Station, has since powered off his mobile phones and is now on the run alongside the fugitive.
Detectives are tracking CCTV footage from locations where the suspect was last spotted and analyzing mobile phone call data to aid in the ongoing investigations.
Since the escape, the fugitive has reportedly been to Machakos, Nairobi, and Kiambu counties.
Kang’ethe, who managed to evade arrest in the USA, also hid from cops in Kenya for three months before an undercover officer spotted someone who looked like him at a nightclub in Nairobi and struck up a conversation with him.
Within hours, authorities identified him as the Boston-area fugitive who US investigators said boarded a plane to Kenya shortly after killing his girlfriend Ms Mbitu in October.
Mbitu’s body was found in the suspect’s car in a parking garage at Boston Logan International Airport on November 1, two days after she was reported missing. The 31-year-old had slash wounds on her face and neck.
Kangethe arrived in Kenya through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport(JKIA) and went into hiding in Nairobi’s suburbs while maintaining communication via phone with friends and relatives, including those in the US.
