A man who lived in the same townhome as a missing Joppa man now feared dead was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Wednesday, after parts of a dismembered human body were found inside the home and in a dumpster nearby, according to the
Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
The arrest of Alexander Kinyua, 21, came almost a week after Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, 37, first went missing Friday, and followed a search of the home the two men shared in the 500 block of Terrapin Terrace in Joppatowne early Wednesday morning, police said.
Detectives had first “located evidence that led them to believe a crime had been committed” during an initial search for Agyei-Kodie, who was first publicly identified as missing Monday, police said.
A search and seizure warrant for the home, which is owned by Kinyua’s parents, Antony and Beatrice Kinyua, was obtained, leading investigators to search the home and find the dismembered body parts, police said.
Police also found body parts in a dumpster on Trimble Road.
It was not immediately clear whether Kinyua’s parents or other family members or friends also lived in the home, but property records do list the home as Antony and Beatrice Kinyua’s primary residence.
The body parts found in the home had yet to be identified by the chief medical examiner late Wednesday, but police believe they are those of Agyei-Kodie, said Monica Worrell, a police spokeswoman.
Kinyua has been charged with first-degree murder as well as first-degree and second-degree assault, and was being held at the Harford County Detention Center, awaiting an appearance before a court commissioner.
The charges are not Kinyua’s first in recent weeks.
On May 20, Kinyua, who otherwise does not have a criminal record in Maryland, was charged with first-degree assault and reckless endangerment in Baltimore in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred May 19, according to court records.
He was scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing in that case June 19. On May 25, what appeared to be a plea from his parents for help paying Kinyua’s legal fees in the case from was posted on the website Mwakilishi.com, which touts itself as “The Leading Source of Kenyan Diaspora News & Entertainment.”
The post says Kinyua had been arrested for “being involved in a fight in his dormitory room at Morgan State University.”
University police reached late Wednesday would not comment.
The online plea says, “In order to get him the best defense possible, we need to secure an attorney who will take his case and leave no stone unturned.”
It also states a fundraising event was scheduled at the International Christian Community Church on Sunday, and lists a number and address for Antony and Beatrice Kinyua. The address is the same as that where the body parts were found.
Late Wednesday, a man who answered a phone at the number listed said Antony and Beatrice Kinyua were “resting,” and that the family did not wish to speak to the media without an attorney present.
No other details about the investigation were immediately available, Worrell said. Referenced from Baltimore Sun
