Former UK Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Female Appears in Court

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a female from Kenya who was killed near a British forces camp in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is a native of Greater Manchester, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the extradition request. It is understood that he was taken into custody on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for the defendant was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been accused of a one count, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to face charges.

The defendant served formerly as a medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a beautician who had a infant daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her corpse was found 60 days later in the area of the hotel where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had previously been detained or indicted in association with her death. His detention was the result of a fresh police investigation, which came after a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the newspaper reached out to several current and former soldiers in the military group.

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