Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) testerday asked the court to order the extradition of Kevin Adam Kang’ethe who is wanted in the United States over the murder of his girlfriend last year.
The prosecution, led by Vincent Monda urged the court to hand over the Kenyan fugitive to the US to face murder charges.
Monda told Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina that they had finalized their submissions on the matter since February this year even though the applicant had not filed their responses todate.
He told the court that they filed their written submissions on February 1 but since then the applicant has not filed the response yet. 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 first degree murder charges.
“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.
Reason for extradition
He told the magistrate that the offence of murder is listed as one of the reasons for extradition. He explained that the role of a magistrate in the extradition matter is not to enquire into the merits of the charge but merely to ascertain whether a prima facie case exists in relation to the alleged 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 were recovered from 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 licence, Debit card for Bank of America and a Visa Card all bearing the name of the deceased, all linking him to the crime.
He added that in their warrant to arrest, the Massachusetts court attached two of Kang’ethe’s photos, one taken from Logan International Airport and the other one from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) upon his arrival in the country.
They further told the court that their inventory has not been challenged and that clearly points to the fact that the respondent and the deceased were in contact.
“The 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.
US jurisdiction
Monda told the magistrate that Kang’ethe will not have a fair trial if not surrendered to the jurisdiction of the US.
He requested the court’s permission for the items in their inventory to be handed over to the US authorities as they will form part of exhibit.
Kang’ethe never responded on the DPP’s plea since his lawyer Danstan Omari was not in court.
He prayed to the court to adjourn the matter to enable his lawyer to respond to the DPP’s 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 be escorted to any financial institution within Nairobi for the purpose of activating his account and sourcing of finance for the purpose of legal expenditures.
In his brief ruling, the magistrate ordered the applicant to file the response of the motion dated January 31, within two weeks.
He further ordered the Investigating officer to assess Kang’ethe for the reasons behind his plea and arrange how he will 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 hrs in connection with the offence of murder of Margaret Mbitu in Lowell, Massachusetts on October 31, 2023 in United States.
Both the suspect and the deceased were residents of Massachusetts and were in a relationship. Mbitu was a home health care 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 who later enlisted the assistance of Massachusetts state police.
Preliminary Investigation were that the deceased left her place of work and travelled to Lowell with Kang’ethe where he lived a distance of approximately 60 miles away.
US police found out that the deceased and Kang’ethe travelled to Lowell riding in a Toyota Venza white in colour in the morning of October 31, 2023.
Kang’ethe violently attacked and repeatedly stabbed Mbitu in the face and neck causing catastrophic injuries led to her death.