Former UK Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenya Woman Shows Up in Court

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

Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of the Manchester area, was presented at the Westminster court on Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday evening.

A detention order for Purkiss was released by a court in Nairobi in the month of September. Legal prosecutors informed the Kenyan judiciary that the accused had been facing a sole charge, of homicide, and that the government of Kenya would seek 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 north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, disappeared after a evening out, and her remains was located after two months in the premises of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

No one had earlier been detained or indicted in relation to her passing. His detention was the result of a fresh police investigation, which followed a report in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the media outlet contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.

This inquiry has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the legal case.