Ex British Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenya Female Appears in Courtroom

A suspect has appeared in court as extradition hearings began in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was killed near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of Greater Manchester, showed up in the Westminster court on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the extradition. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday night.

A detention order for the suspect was released by a court in Nairobi in the month of September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been charged with a sole charge, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to answer to accusations.

The defendant previously worked as a army medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the army unit for the English northwest, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, disappeared after a night out, and her corpse was discovered two months later in the premises of the hotel where she had previously spotted.

No one had earlier been taken into custody or accused in connection to her demise. Purkiss’s arrest followed a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

The probe has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the matter.