Former British Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenya Female Appears in Courtroom

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

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from the Manchester area, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and told the court he would challenge the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday night.

A detention order for Purkiss was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been accused of a one count, of homicide, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to answer to accusations.

Purkiss previously worked as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, disappeared after a evening out, and her corpse was discovered after two months in the premises of the lodging where she had last been seen.

No one had earlier been detained or accused in relation to her demise. His detention was the result of a new police inquiry, which came after a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the media outlet approached several current and former soldiers in the unit.

This inquiry has been headed by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.