Former British Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Appears in Court

A man has appeared in court as extradition hearings began in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was murdered near a British forces camp in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester, showed up in the Westminster court on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the extradition. Sources suggest that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

A detention order for Purkiss was authorized by a Nairobi court in the month of September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a single count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would pursue his extradition to answer to accusations.

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

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, vanished after a night out, and her remains was found after two months in the grounds of the hotel where she had most recently observed.

Nobody had previously been arrested or charged in association with her demise. The arrest of Purkiss was the result of a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a exposé in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet approached several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

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