Ex British Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenya Female Appears in Court

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was murdered near a British army base in the year 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from Greater Manchester region, was presented at the Westminster court on Friday, and stated to the court he planned to fight the extradition request. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been charged with a single count, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to stand trial.

The defendant was once employed as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her corpse was located two months later in the area of the lodging where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had before been detained or indicted in relation to her death. His detention was the result of a fresh police investigation, which followed a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication contacted several current and former soldiers in the unit.

This inquiry has been led by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the legal case.