A Kenyan court has authorized the detention of Brian Kiprop Kiplangat, the prime suspect in the murder of his banker girlfriend, Maryanne Nduta Kilonzo, who was found dead in London last year on Friday, January 17, 2025.
Metropolitan Police officers discovered her body inside her apartment on Argyll Road in Woolwich, South East London. Reports indicated she had been severely beaten to death.
Marryan was the vice president of Trade and Working Capital at CitiBank in London at the time of her death.
According to Senior Principal Magistrate Daisy Mutai on ordered that Kiplangat be held at the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) for seven days to allow investigators to finalize inquiries and prepare for his extradition to the United Kingdom.
The magistrate dismissed defense arguments that Kiplangat should be released because a formal extradition request had not yet been presented to the court.
“At this stage, the extradition request is not required,” Magistrate Mutai ruled.
“All the court needs is to be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to detain the accused,” she added.
The court heard that Nduta, a Kenyan banker working in London, was murdered, and Kiplangat being a closer person to her, left the UK shortly afterwards. A Westminster court subsequently issued 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 ruled that the suspect posed a significant flight risk, citing his movements after 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.
The court heard that the suspect who has been elusive for over a year now was arrested on June 10 at the Namanga border while allegedly attempting to cross into Tanzania.
At the time of his arrest, he had in his possession two passports and a travel visa permit dated the same day.
“Police have established that the suspect is a flight risk given his travelling pattern and the travel documents in his possession,” Magistrate Mutai ruled.
The court noted that both the deceased and the suspect were Kenyan nationals who lived and worked in the UK.
The magistrate observed that Kiplangat’s appearance before the Kenyan court formed part of a lawful process aimed at facilitating cooperation between Kenyan and British authorities to deliver justice for the deceased.
Kenyan detectives intent to conduct forensic analysis of the suspect’s mobile phones, including extraction of data relating to a message allegedly sent to the deceased’s relatives stating:
“It’s unfortunate that Maryanne has died.”
The suspect, according to Kenya authorities is yet to be handed over to British authorities to face charges accordingly.
The court further directed authorities to supervise the suspect while he accesses one of his mobile phone to conduct a financial transaction, while retaining the devices as evidence.
