Murder suspect Kevin Kang'ethe extradited to the USA – DPP

Murder suspect Kevin Kang'ethe has been extradited to the United States, said Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga.

Kang'ethe left the country on Sunday and is expected to face murder charges in a Boston court on Tuesday.

“Kang'ethe left Nairobi on 1 September 2024 and will face murder charges at the Suffolk Superior Court in Pemberton Square, Boston on 3 September 2024,” the DPP said.

The suspect returned to Kenya last year after allegedly killing Margaret Mbitu.

He was arrested in Nairobi before fleeing and being rearrested.

On July 31 A court in Nairobi ordered Kang'ethe's extradition to face trial in the United States for the alleged murder of Mbitu.

In his judgment, Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina found that the alleged murder offence to which the extradition request and the power of attorney relate met the list test.

The court further stated that the evidence presented to it established a link between Kang'ethe and the alleged premeditated murder. Since the court was not a court of first instance, it had no power to hold a trial to decide on Kang'ethe's guilt or anything similar.

“This will be the task of the court of first instance and not of the court conducting these extradition proceedings,” Onyina said.

The decision states that there are substantial grounds for extraditing the defendant to the United States to stand trial for first-degree murder in violation of Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 265, Section 1.

“The motion for Petition No. 2 is therefore granted that the defendant be hereby returned and/or transported from Kenya and extradited to the United States of America to face the charge of alleged premeditated murder in violation of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 265, Section 1, for which he was formally charged by a criminal complaint in Case No. 23 CR-2559 in the District Court in Chelsea, Massachusetts,” the judge ruled.