Former British Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenyan Female Appears in Courtroom

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

Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, was presented at the Westminster court on the last Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the deportation. Reports indicate that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

A detention order for the suspect was released by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been charged with a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would pursue his extradition to face charges.

He was once employed as a army medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a beautician who had a young daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her remains was found after two months in the grounds of the hotel where she had last been seen.

Nobody had earlier been detained or accused in relation to her death. Purkiss’s arrest followed a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the newspaper approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

The probe has been headed by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, maintains prosecutorial power in the matter.