Former UK Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was murdered near a UK military installation in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is a native of the Manchester area, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on the last Friday, and informed the court he planned to fight the deportation. It is understood that he was taken into custody on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was issued by a court in Nairobi in the month of September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been charged with a single count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to stand trial.

He served formerly as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, went missing after a night on the town, and her body was found 60 days later in the area of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

Nobody had before been taken into custody or accused in connection to her death. His detention was the result of a recent detective probe, which followed a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication approached several current and former soldiers in the military group.

The probe has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the matter.