Ex UK Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Appears in Court

An individual has been presented in court as extradition hearings began in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is a native of Greater Manchester, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in the month of September. Legal prosecutors stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been facing a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to stand trial.

He previously worked as a medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, went missing after a night out, and her remains was found 60 days later in the grounds of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

Not a single person had previously been arrested or accused in connection to her death. The arrest of Purkiss came after a new police inquiry, which followed a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper reached out to several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

The probe has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the matter.