Ex UK Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenyan Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has shown up before a judge as extradition hearings started in the investigation of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the extradition request. It is understood that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for the defendant was released by a Nairobi court in September. Legal prosecutors told the Kenyan court that the individual had been charged with a single count, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would pursue his extradition to face charges.

He was once employed as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

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

Nobody had before been arrested or accused in relation to her demise. The arrest of Purkiss came after a recent detective probe, which followed a report in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication approached several current and former soldiers in the military group.

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