Former British Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Shows Up in Courtroom

An individual has appeared in court as extradition proceedings began in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a British forces camp in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester region, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was released by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been accused of a one count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to stand trial.

The defendant was once employed as a army medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, went missing after a night out, and her corpse was discovered two months later in the premises of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

No one had earlier been taken into custody or accused in association with her demise. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a new police inquiry, which followed a exposé in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the media outlet contacted several active and retired troops in the military group.

The probe has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, holds legal authority in the legal case.