Former UK Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Appears in Court

A man has appeared in court as deportation processes started in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a UK military installation in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of Greater Manchester, showed up in the Westminster court on Friday, and stated to the court he planned to fight the extradition. Sources suggest that he was arrested on Thursday night.

An arrest warrant for the defendant was issued by a court in Nairobi in the month of September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a sole charge, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would pursue his extradition to face charges.

Purkiss was once employed as a army medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a young daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her corpse was located after two months in the premises of the hotel where she had most recently observed.

Nobody had earlier been detained or charged in association with her passing. Purkiss’s arrest followed a recent detective probe, which came after a report in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication approached several current and former soldiers in the unit.

The investigation has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the case.