Former UK Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Appears in Court

A suspect has appeared in court as extradition proceedings commenced in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was killed near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on the last Friday, and informed the court he planned to fight the extradition. Reports indicate that he was arrested on Thursday night.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that Purkiss had been accused of a sole charge, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to face charges.

Purkiss previously worked as a medical attendant with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, vanished after a night out, and her corpse was located two months later in the area of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

Nobody had previously been detained or charged in relation to her demise. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a recent detective probe, which followed a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the media outlet contacted several current and former soldiers in the military group.

The investigation has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the legal case.