Man accused of killing girlfriend and leaving her body at Boston airport has been extradited to the United States

A man accused of killing his girlfriend in Boston and fleeing to Kenya has been extradited to the United States, the latest twist in an international case in which he was arrested in a Nairobi nightclub and escaped from prison.

Kevin Kangethe, 42, is charged with murder in the death of nurse Margaret “Maggie” Mbitu, whose body was found in a parked car last November at Boston’s Logan International Airport, two days after she was reported missing. Authorities say he immediately boarded a plane and fled the country.

For months, the suspect evaded authorities after arriving in Kenya. In January, investigators spotted Kangethe at a Nairobi nightclub and arrested him. He escaped from prison a few days later and was free for a week before he was rearrested in Nairobi in early February.

Kenya has an extradition treaty with the United States.

Kangethe’s extradition on Sunday brings him to the jurisdiction of his alleged crime, some 7,000 miles away. He is expected to be charged with murder in the Suffolk High Court on Tuesday, said Renson Ingonga, Kenya’s director of public prosecutions.

“I would like to reiterate my commitment and support, whenever needed, to the United States of America and in particular to the prosecution team as they continue to work on the next phase of this case,” Ingonga said in a statement on Monday.

He boarded the plane the day before her body was found.

Mbitu, 31, lived in Whitman, a Boston suburb, and was the youngest in a family of health care workers. Her two older sisters and mother are nurses.

She was reported missing in late October because she failed to show up for work, which was rare for her.

Her family notified police and called nearby hospitals to check on her condition. Investigators identified her boyfriend as a suspect, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police.

Police used surveillance cameras to track his Toyota SUV to the airport and found it in a parking garage. Inside, they found Mbitu’s bloody body with slashes to his face and neck, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.

The day before her body was found, Kangethe boarded a flight from Boston to Kenya. Surveillance footage showed him leaving the parking lot and entering the airport terminal, police said.

State police said investigators learned he had purchased a plane ticket the previous morning.

“Why her?” her sister, Ann Mbitu, told CNN in November. “Nobody’s daughter deserves this, but why my sister? Why Maggie?” “I’m so angry, I’m still trying to process all of this. At 31, we shouldn’t be planning her funeral. We should be planning celebrations, birthdays, weddings, trips.”

The fugitive was arrested at a Nairobi nightclub but escaped from prison a week later.

Kangethe was arrested twice with the help of informants.

After arriving in Kenya, he evaded authorities for three months. Then, in late January, someone tipped off police that a man at a Nairobi nightclub resembled a suspect they had seen on social media, Kenyan authorities said.

An undercover police officer located him and spoke with him, a police official told CNN. Within hours, authorities identified the man as Kangethe, who authorities in Massachusetts had obtained an arrest warrant for murder.

A week later, a man posing as his lawyer showed up at the police station where he was being held and asked to speak with him. Officers released the suspect from his cell and left him alone in an office. The suspect fled on foot and evaded authorities for several days, police said.

He was arrested again a week later at a relative’s home on the outskirts of Nairobi after another tip-off, Kenyan police said.

Kevin Hayden, the district attorney for Suffolk County in suburban Boston, thanked the U.S. Department of State, the FBI, state police, the Kenyan government and Kenyan law enforcement for facilitating the arrest.

“Their tremendous and tireless efforts will give Margaret’s family and friends the opportunity to see Kevin Kangethe brought to justice for this terrible crime,” Hayden said in a statement in February.

Investigators did not reveal a motive for the killing.

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