Ex British Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Appears in Courtroom

An individual has appeared in court as extradition proceedings started in the case of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is a native of Greater Manchester, appeared before the Westminster court on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the deportation. Sources suggest that he was taken into custody on Thursday evening.

An arrest warrant for the defendant was released by a Nairobi court in the month of September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been accused of a one count, of homicide, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to stand trial.

He was once employed as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a beautician who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her body was discovered 60 days later in the premises of the hotel where she had last been seen.

No one had earlier been arrested or charged in relation to her passing. His detention was the result of a recent detective probe, which followed a report in the year 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the media outlet reached out to several active and retired troops in the military group.

The investigation has been spearheaded by detectives in Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, retains jurisdiction in the case.