• Her mother said her daughter planned to break up with her partner.
• He took a flight back to Kenya where police are searching for him.
Kenyan detectives have received a request from the US authorities to arrest a man wanted for alleged murder in Massachusetts.
The victim’s mother said she was planning to breakup with the suspect, Kevin Kang’ethe.
An arrest warrant was issued on November 2, after Massachusetts State Police found the body of 31-year-old Margaret Mbitu in a car at Boston’s Logan Airport Central Parking garage the night before.
Detectives visited a home in Thogoto, Kiambu county, believed to be that of the suspect but did not find him.
An officer said they were told he had not been seen and that it has been years since he was last seen in the area.
Detectives believe he is already in Kenya.
Residents were urged to be on alert and inform authorities if they spot him.
“We have been notified by the US officials on the issue and efforts to establish his whereabouts, if any in the country are ongoing,” an officer aware of the developments said.
Officials in the US had also urged the suspect to surrender.
“We urge this suspect to turn himself in to authorities before he or anyone else gets hurt. We are making every effort possible to apprehend him and to begin the process of seeking justice for Margaret Mbitu and those mourning her tragic death,” Suffolk County DA Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
Whitman police said Margaret was last seen leaving work in Halifax around 11pm on Monday, October 30.
At some point after that, investigators said she was murdered.
Margaret’s mother, Rose Mbitu, told the media in the US that her daughter was planning to break up with Kang’ethe.
At 6.30pm on Wednesday, police officers in Boston found Margaret’s car with her body inside.
US authorities are convinced of one thing—that Kang'ethe, 40, murdered Maggie, as she was affectionately known to family and close friends, before buying tickets for a 16-hour flight to Nairobi, a move detectives believe was to avoid prosecution.
The tickets, it has now emerged, were bought early on Tuesday morning, just hours after Margaret’s death.
Massachusetts authorities are hoping to take advantage of Kenya’s extradition treaty with the US, which led to the conviction of two members of the notorious Akasha family on drug trafficking and other charges.
Preliminary evidence gathered from the deceased’s car indicated that Kang'ethe was the primary suspect.
Margaret lived with her family in Whitman and worked in Boston Area Multi-Services Inc (Bamsi) in Brockton, about 7.2 kilometres away.
On Monday night, she drove 62 kilometres to Boston Logan Airport to see Kang'ethe. He lived in Lowell, 80 kilometres from Margaret’s home in Whitman.
On Friday, NBC Boston reported that surveillance footage placed Margaret’s car in Lowell and in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the day before she was killed.
The 31-year-old nurse clocked out of her shift at 11pm last Monday.
She got into her white Toyota Venza and drove off, in what would be the last time she would be seen alive.
Those close to Margaret knew she would return home after work. Family members reported her missing after she did not return home and could not be reached by phone.
It is still unknown whether she knew her partner was planning to travel to Kenya.
Two days later, Massachusetts State Police officers found Margaret’s body in her car. Authorities have not revealed much, except that preliminary evidence points to Kang'ethe as the prime suspect.
Margaret is survived by her parents Rose and Harun, siblings Ann and Bernard, and several cousins, aunts and uncles.
She was a naturalised US citizen. She graduated from Quincy College in 2018 and worked for Bamsi, a non-profit organisation.
The family has been holding daily virtual prayer meetings with the local Anglican community as they begin preparations for Margaret’s funeral.