- Bungei said Kang'ethe's lawyer, John Ndegwa Maina, remains in police custody.
- Maina was detained at Muthaiga Police Station shortly after Kang'ethe's escape at around 5.30 pm on Wednesday, February 7.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A/FILE
Four police officers who were manning the Muthaiga Police Station when wanted murder suspect Kelvin Kinyanjui Kang'ethe escaped from custody have been interdicted.
The suspect was awaiting extradition on a Massachusetts warrant alleging he killed his girlfriend and left her body in a car at the Boston airport.
Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei said as part of disciplinary measures within the police force, two additional senior officers overseeing the four policemen in question have been reassigned to different duty stations.
“The four will face other charges in court including aiding the escape of the wanted suspect,” he said as he presided over a prayer meeting in Nairobi.
Bungei said Kang'ethe's lawyer, John Ndegwa Maina, remains in police custody.
Maina was detained at Muthaiga Police Station shortly after Kang'ethe's escape at around 5.30 pm on Wednesday, February 7.
The Law Society Kenya has confirmed he was a practising lawyer.
Bungei said Friday that preliminary investigations have validated his identity as the genuine legal representative for the suspect.
The four and the lawyer were Friday expected in court following the incident.
Maina had visited Kang'ethe, in his capacity as his advocate, four times before his escape.
Kang’ethe is accused of killing a 31-year-old Kenyan-born Margaret Mbitu who was based in Whitman, Massachusetts whose body was discovered inside a vehicle at Boston's Logan Airport in November last year.
He allegedly escaped from Boston in November last year.
He was arrested on January 30 in Nairobi and was presented in court on a miscellaneous application where detectives were granted 30 days to detain him pending the conclusion of investigations.
The court while detaining him at Muthaiga police station noted that there was no objection to the application by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on the seriousness of the offence.
The DPP told the court that there were several applications to be made including that of extradition to the US where he is wanted on murder charges.
Preliminary investigations indicate that Kang'ethe attacked and repeatedly stabbed the woman in the face and neck area causing catastrophic injuries that led to her death.
On Wednesday, he escaped from custody as he met the lawyer.
Witnesses said he was barefooted when he ran out of the station and took a matatu headed for Thika.