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

A suspect has appeared in court as extradition hearings began in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the extradition. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was released by a Nairobi court in September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been charged with a sole charge, of homicide, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to face charges.

Purkiss served formerly as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, disappeared after a evening out, and her remains was found 60 days later in the area of the lodging where she had last been seen.

Nobody had before been arrested or charged in connection to her passing. The arrest of Purkiss came after a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a report in the year 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the media outlet contacted several active and retired troops in the military group.

The investigation has been led by investigators from Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the legal case.