Ex British Serviceman Accused of Murdering Kenya Woman Shows Up in Court

A man has been presented in court as extradition hearings began in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a UK military installation in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from Greater Manchester region, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and told the court he would challenge the deportation. Reports indicate that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

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

The defendant was once employed as a army medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

The victim, twenty-one, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her corpse was found two months later in the area of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had earlier been arrested or charged in association with her death. His detention was the result of a fresh police investigation, which came after a report in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the media outlet approached several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

This inquiry has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the legal case.