A Milimani court has allowed police to detain a Kenyan man wanted by authorities in the United Kingdom (UK) over the murder of his banker girlfriend, who was found dead in London last year.
Senior Principal Magistrate Daisy Mutai ordered that Brian Kiprop Kiplangat be held at the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) for seven days to allow investigators to complete inquiries and pave the way for extradition proceedings seeking his transfer to the UK to face a murder charge.
Kiplangat is the prime suspect in the death of Maryanne Nduta Kilonzo, a Kenyan banker working in London at the time of her death.
In her ruling, Magistrate Mutai dismissed objections by the defence that Kiplangat should be released because a formal extradition request had not yet been presented before the court.
“At this stage, the extradition request is not required,” the magistrate ruled.
She added that the court only needed to be satisfied that there were reasonable grounds to detain the suspect pending investigations.
“All the court needs is to be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to detain the accused,” she said.
The court noted that it was not disputed that Nduta was murdered in London and that Kiplangat left the UK shortly afterwards, prompting a Westminster court to issue a warrant for his arrest.
According to the prosecution, information recovered from the deceased's passport identified Kiplangat as her boyfriend and included his photograph.
The magistrate also found that the suspect posed a significant flight risk, citing his travel history following the alleged murder.
Court documents showed that Kiplangat travelled from London to France, then to Uganda, before entering Kenya and later moving to the South Coast region.
Investigators told the court that he was arrested on June 10 at the Namanga border while allegedly attempting to cross into Tanzania.
Police further stated that he was found in possession of two passports and a travel visa permit dated June 10.
“Police have established before this court that the suspect is a flight risk given his travelling pattern and the travel documents in his possession,” Magistrate Mutai ruled.
The court held that the prosecution, led by Joyce Olajo, had established sufficient legal grounds to justify the detention orders, noting that a Kenyan citizen had lost her life in London and that both the deceased and the suspect were Kenyan nationals living and working in the UK.
The magistrate observed that Kiplangat's appearance before the Kenyan court was part of a lawful process aimed at facilitating cooperation between Kenyan and British authorities in seeking justice for the deceased.
Investigators also told the court they require additional time to conduct a forensic analysis of the suspect's mobile phones, including the extraction of information relating to a message allegedly sent to the deceased's relatives stating:
“It's unfortunate that Maryanne has died.”
While the formal extradition request has not yet been filed, the investigating officer informed the court that the ultimate objective of the probe is to hand over Kiplangat to British authorities to face prosecution for murder.
The court further directed police to allow the suspect supervised access to one of his phones to conduct a financial transaction, while retaining the devices as evidence in the ongoing investigation.
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