Ex UK Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenya Female Appears in Court

A suspect has appeared in court as extradition hearings began in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a British army base in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of the Manchester area, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was authorized by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a one count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to face charges.

Purkiss previously worked as a medical attendant with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, went missing after a night out, and her body was located after two months in the grounds of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

No one had previously been detained or accused in relation to her demise. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a report in the year 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the newspaper approached several active and retired troops in the military group.

The probe has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the legal case.