• The team that arrested him was led by Kajiado North police commander Hussein Gura and Ngong OCS Philip ole Nkindi. They were helped by nine police officers from Ngong.
• Gura said the suspect was taken to Nairobi under heavy security.
Image: HANDOUT.
Fugitive murder suspect Kelvin Kinyanjui Kang’ethe was arrested at 10.30pm on Tuesday in Ngong town after a tip-off from members of the public.
The team that arrested him was led by Kajiado North police commander Hussein Gura and Ngong OCS Philip ole Nkindi. They were helped by nine police officers from Ngong.
Gura said Kang’ethe had walked to the estate where his cousin lives with her husband, 200 metres from Ngong town, but the watchman stopped him from entering.
He said Kang'ethe later managed to enter the estate but on being identified, someone called the OCS Ngong, who briefed the area police commander.
Kang’ethe was arrested before he reached his cousin’s house.
Gura said the suspect was taken to Nairobi under heavy security.
Kang'ethe escaped from Muthaiga police station on February 7 at 4pm.
He was arrested in Westlands on January 30 and was in custody, pending a ruling on whether he should be extradited to the US to face murder charge in connection with the death of Margaret Mbitu on October 31, 2023.
He was to appear in court on February 9 for directions on his extradition case.
Witnesses said he was barefoot when he ran out of the station and took a matatu headed for Thika.
Massachusetts State Police said in early November 2023, Kang'ethe, 40, left Mbitu's body in a car at Logan International Airport and boarded a flight to Kenya.
Massachusetts officials said they were working with Kenyan authorities to locate him.
He was later arrested in a nightclub on January 30, after being on the run for three months.
Kang'ethe had renounced his US citizenship, which prompted the extradition process.
A Nairobi court had approved a police application for him to be detained for 30 days, while the extradition matter was heard.
Officials said had he been an American citizen, he would have been repatriated without the court process.
Kang'ethe’s brother was on Monday detained for questioning over his escape from police custody.
Also being questioned was the brother’s girlfriend, police said.
The two were picked up on Monday evening from an apartment in Ololua in Ngong and Westlands.
It is not clear what police want to learn from them, but insiders said the brother may have talked to Kang'ethe after he escaped from Muthaiga police station on February 7.
Police believe Kang'ethe met his brother after he escaped custody.
His cousin and lawyer Beatrice Ng'ethe was last Friday arrested and detained for questioning over the matter.
She was released on Sh100,000 police cash bail.
Director of DCI Mohamed Amin said Beatrice was interrogated and released in connection with Kang'ethe's escape.
Beatrice became a person of interest after phone records revealed that she was in communication with the fugitive days before he escaped from Muthaiga police station.
Police said a day before the murder suspect vanished, the lawyer was at Muthaiga police station to see him.
But she denied any role in the escape.
Kang'ethe's lawyer, John Ndegwa Maina was also arrested over the escape.
A warrant of arrest was last Friday issued against Kang'ethe.
Milimani chief magistrate Lucas Onyina gave the orders after an application by the prosecution, who said Kang'ethe is a dangerous person and on the run.
Four police officers who were on duty at Muthaiga police station when Kang'ethe escaped from custody have been interdicted.