Ex UK Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Female Shows Up in Courtroom

An individual has appeared in court as deportation processes started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a British army base in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is originally from the Manchester area, was presented at the Westminster court on the last Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the extradition. Sources suggest that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in the month of September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been accused of a one count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to face charges.

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

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, vanished after a night out, and her remains was located two months later in the grounds of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

No one had earlier been taken into custody or accused in association with her passing. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication contacted several current and former soldiers in the military group.

The investigation has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral security treaty, retains jurisdiction in the matter.