Ex UK Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Shows Up in Courtroom

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings commenced in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was killed near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, appeared before the Westminster court on Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the deportation. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday evening.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was authorized by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in the month of September. Legal prosecutors told the Kenyan court that the accused had been accused of a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to stand trial.

He was once employed as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her body was found 60 days later in the premises of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

Nobody had previously been detained or accused in connection to her passing. Purkiss’s arrest came after a fresh police investigation, which followed a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication approached several active and retired troops in the unit.

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