Former UK Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Appears in Courtroom

A suspect has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was murdered near a British forces camp in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of Greater Manchester, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and told the court he would challenge the extradition request. It is understood that he was taken into custody on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was released by a court in Nairobi in the month of September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been accused of a one count, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to answer to accusations.

The defendant previously worked as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

The victim, twenty-one, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, disappeared after a evening out, and her remains was located two months later in the grounds of the accommodation where she had most recently observed.

Nobody had before been detained or accused in relation to her demise. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet contacted several active and retired troops in the regiment.

This inquiry has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the case.