Former UK Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenya Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has shown up before a judge as deportation processes commenced in the case of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was murdered near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of the Manchester area, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the extradition. Reports indicate that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been charged with a one count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to answer to accusations.

The defendant served formerly as a medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the military regiment for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, twenty-one, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, disappeared after a night on the town, and her body was found after two months in the premises of the lodging where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had earlier been arrested or indicted in relation to her death. His detention followed a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper contacted several active and retired troops in the military group.

This inquiry has been headed by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.