The Director of Public Prosecution has urged the court to endorse the extradition of Kevin Adam Kang’ethe who is wanted in the United States to face the murder trial of his girlfriend last year.
The team which was led by Vincent Monda urged the court to hand over the Kenyan fugitive who is allegedly accused of killing his girlfriend to the United States of America where he is expected to face murder charges.
Monda told the Milimani chief magistrate Lucas Onyina that they had finalized their submissions on the matter since February this year although the applicant had not filed their response to date despite having several months.
He told the court that they filed their written submissions on February 1, 2024, but since then the applicant has not filed the response yet.
In his urge to endorse their request, Monda explained to the magistrate that a warrant of arrest against Kang’ethe was issued by a Massachusetts court last year where he is required to face the murder charges of the first degree,
“Your honor we want a legal basis for extradition considering CAP 76 of the extradition Act which states various basis which a person can be extradited,” pleaded Monda.
He told the magistrate that the offence of murder is listed as one of the reasons for extradition.
In convincing the court, he said that the role of a magistrate in extradition is not to enquire in the merit of the charge but merely to ascertain prima facie existed between the offender and the crime,
“In this case your honor murder is a crime in both Kenya and America and during the time of arrest some important documents belonging to the deceased was recovered in possession of Kang’ethe hence indicating the link between him and the deceased,” he said.
The court heard that during the time of arrest, Kang’ethe had in his possession a driving license, a Debit card for Bank of America, and a Visa Card all bearing the name of the deceased and this brings the respondent to duty to explain.
He added that in their warrant to arrest Kang’ethe who immediately escaped from the United States to Kenya after committing the alleged crime, the Massachusetts court attached two of his photos one taken from Logan International Airport and the other one from JKIA after he arrived in the country.
They further told the court that their inventory has not been challenged and that points to the fact that the respondent and the deceased were in contact,
“DPP has laid a proper basis and direct that the respondent be surrendered to the US for trials of murder of the first degree,” he reiterated.
Monda told the magistrate that Kang’ethe will not have a fair trial if not surrendered to the jurisdiction of the US.
In finalizing their plea, Monda requested the court’s nod for the items in their inventory to be handed over to the law enforcement forces of the United States since they will form part of the exhibit.
Kang’ethe never responded to the DPP’s plea since his lawyer Danstan Omari was not in court.
He prayed the court to adjourn the matter for his counsel to respond to the submissions,
“I pray this honorable court to adjourn the matter to give my lawyer time to respond,” pleaded Kang’ethe.
He further urged the court to release an order to be escorted to any financial institution within Nairobi to activate his account and sourcing of finance for legal expenditures.
In his brief ruling, the magistrate ordered the applicant to file the response to the motion dated January 31, 2024, within two weeks.
He further ordered the Investigating officer to assess Kang’ethe for the reasons behind his plea and arrange how he would be escorted to prevent him from escaping.
Kang’ethe was arrested on January 30, 2024, within Parklands in Nairobi county and booked at Gigiri police station vide OB No. 02/30/01/2024 at 0037 hours in connection with the offence of murder of Margaret Mbitu in Lowell, Massachusetts on October 31, 2023, in the United States.
Both the suspect and the deceased were residents of Massachusetts and were in a relationship.
Mbitu was a home healthcare aid in the town of Halifax Massachusetts.
The deceased went missing on October 30 2023 after leaving her place of work and efforts by the family to trace her were futile.
The family reported about their missing person at Whitman police department and later enlisted the assistance of Massachusetts state police.
Preliminary Investigations were that the deceased left her place of work and traveled to Lowell with Kang’ethe where he lived a distance of approximately 60 miles away.
United police found out that the deceased and Kang’ethe traveled to Lowell riding in a Toyota Venza white in color on the morning of October 31, 2023.
Kang’ethe violently attacked and repeatedly stabbed Mbitu in the face and neck causing catastrophic injuries that led to her death.
After killing her, Kang’ethe drove the vehicle to different locations as he disposed off the deceased cellular phone in a trash dumpster before driving to Logan International Airport and parked the vehicle in a garage with the body of Mbitu concealed under a bag and other several items.
On November 1, 2023, police discovered the body of Mbitu in the front passenger seat of Kang’ethes’ Toyota Venza car.
He escaped and returned to Kenya through JKIA and went into hiding in various suburbs of Nairobi county where he used various phone numbers to call his friends in the USA as well as his family, relatives, and friends in Kenya.
The court will deliver the ruling on July 31, 2024.