Ex British Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenyan Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has been presented in court as extradition proceedings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was killed near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

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

A detention order for the defendant was issued by a Nairobi court in the month of September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that the accused had been charged with a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to answer to accusations.

Purkiss was once employed as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her corpse was found 60 days later in the area of the lodging where she had last been seen.

No one had earlier been taken into custody or indicted in connection to her passing. The arrest of Purkiss came after a recent detective probe, which followed a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

This inquiry has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.