Former British Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Court

A suspect has appeared in court as deportation processes began in the case of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was killed near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of Greater Manchester region, appeared before the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and stated to the court he planned to fight the extradition request. Sources suggest that he was detained on Thursday evening.

A detention order for the defendant was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors informed the Kenyan judiciary that Purkiss had been facing a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to stand trial.

He served formerly as a medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the military regiment for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, twenty-one, a beautician who had a young daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her corpse was found after two months in the area of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

Not a single person had earlier been arrested or indicted in relation to her death. The arrest of Purkiss was the result of a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a report in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication reached out to several active and retired troops in the regiment.

The investigation has been headed by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the case.