NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A man wanted for allegedly killing his girlfriend and leaving her body in a parking lot at a Boston airport before flying to Kenya has been arrested, Kenyan police said Tuesday.
Kevin Kangethe, 40, was apprehended at a nightclub Monday following a tipoff, Director of Criminal Investigations Mohammed Amin told The Associated Press.
Amin said Kangethe will be extradited.
The body of Margaret Mbitu, 31, was discovered in early November in a car at a parking garage at Boston Logan International Airport.
Mbitu, of Whitman, Massachusetts, had been reported missing by her family two days before her body was discovered.
Law enforcement officials said it was unclear if Kengethe had a lawyer yet.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden in Boston praised the efforts to track down Kangethe.
“I’m extremely grateful to the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the FBI, Kenyan law enforcement agencies, the Kenyan government and the Massachusetts State Police for bringing the person accused of Margaret Mbitu’s brutal murder into custody,” Hayden said in a statement.
David Procopio, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police, described the arrest as “a joint effort that reached across oceans and continents.”
“We had been keeping tabs on him while the international coordination of the arrest warrant and apprehension plan was being completed,” Procopio said. “The next step is the extradition process, but there is no timetable on that yet.”
The U.S. Embassy also commended the efforts of Kenyan law enforcement in arresting the fugitive.
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Associated Press reporter Steve LeBlanc contributed to this report from Boston.