Ex UK Serviceman Accused of Murdering Kenya Female Appears in Court

An individual has been presented in court as extradition proceedings began in the case of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was murdered near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from the Manchester area, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the deportation. It is understood that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was authorized by a Nairobi court in September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been charged with a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to answer to accusations.

The defendant previously worked as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, vanished after a night out, and her body was located after two months in the area of the lodging where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had previously been detained or charged in relation to her demise. Purkiss’s arrest followed a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the newspaper approached several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

This inquiry has been led by investigators from Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, holds legal authority in the case.