Ex British Serviceman Accused of Murdering Kenya Female Shows Up in Courtroom

A suspect has been presented in court as extradition hearings began in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was killed near a British army base in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of Greater Manchester, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on the last Friday, and told the court he planned to fight the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was taken into custody on Thursday night.

A detention order for Purkiss was released by a Nairobi court in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that the accused had been charged with a single count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to face charges.

The defendant previously worked as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a beautician who had a infant daughter, went missing after a night out, and her corpse was located after two months in the area of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had earlier been taken into custody or accused in connection to her death. Purkiss’s arrest came after a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a report in the year 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the publication approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

This inquiry has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the case.