Ex UK Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Appears in Courtroom

A man has appeared in court as extradition proceedings started in the investigation of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was killed near a British forces camp in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from the Manchester area, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

A detention order for Purkiss was issued by a Nairobi court in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that the individual had been facing a one count, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to stand trial.

Purkiss served formerly as a army medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the infantry regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a beautician who had a baby daughter, went missing after a night out, and her corpse was located two months later in the premises of the hotel where she had last been seen.

Nobody had previously been arrested or accused in relation to her death. Purkiss’s arrest followed a fresh police investigation, which came after a report in the year 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the media outlet contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.

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