Ex UK Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Appears in Courtroom

A man has appeared in court as extradition hearings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a UK military installation in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the extradition request. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday evening.

A detention order for the suspect was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that Purkiss had been charged with a single count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan government would pursue his extradition to answer to accusations.

Purkiss served formerly as a medical attendant with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a beautician who had a infant daughter, disappeared after a night on the town, and her remains was found after two months in the area of the hotel where she had most recently observed.

Nobody had earlier been detained or accused in connection to her demise. The arrest of Purkiss followed a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a exposé in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet contacted several current and former soldiers in the military group.

The probe has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, holds legal authority in the legal case.