Former British Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has been presented in court as extradition hearings commenced in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a UK military installation in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on the last Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the extradition request. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night.

An arrest warrant for the suspect was released by a Nairobi court in the month of September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been facing a sole charge, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to face charges.

The defendant previously worked as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

The victim, twenty-one, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, disappeared after a night on the town, and her body was located two months later in the premises of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

No one had before been detained or indicted in relation to her passing. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication reached out to several active and retired troops in the unit.

The investigation has been headed by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.