Former UK Serviceman Accused of Murdering Kenyan Woman Appears in Courtroom

A man has appeared in court as deportation processes commenced in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a British army base in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, appeared before the Westminster court on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the extradition. Sources suggest that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

A detention order for the suspect was authorized by a Nairobi court in the month of September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that Purkiss had been charged with a sole charge, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would request his deportation to face charges.

Purkiss served formerly as a medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, twenty-one, a beautician who had a baby daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her remains was found two months later in the area of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

Nobody had previously been arrested or indicted in relation to her passing. The arrest of Purkiss followed a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a exposé in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the publication reached out to several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

The investigation has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the matter.