Ex UK Serviceman Accused of Murdering Kenyan Female Appears in Courtroom

An individual has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings began in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a British army base in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester, was presented at the Westminster court on the last Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the deportation. Reports indicate that he was taken into custody on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was released by a Nairobi court in September. Legal prosecutors stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been facing a sole charge, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to face charges.

Purkiss previously worked as a medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, went missing after a night on the town, and her remains was located 60 days later in the area of the hotel where she had previously spotted.

No one had before been arrested or indicted in association with her passing. The arrest of Purkiss came after a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a report in the year 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the media outlet reached out to several current and former soldiers in the unit.

The probe has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the case.