Former British Soldier Accused of Killing Kenyan Woman Appears in Courtroom

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings commenced in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was murdered near a British forces camp in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from Greater Manchester region, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he planned to fight the deportation. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in the month of September. Legal prosecutors informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been accused of a sole charge, of homicide, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to face charges.

Purkiss was once employed as a army medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21, a beautician who had a infant daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her remains was located two months later in the grounds of the hotel where she had previously spotted.

Not a single person had before been taken into custody or charged in relation to her death. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a recent detective probe, which followed a report in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the unit.

The investigation has been spearheaded by detectives in Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.