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

An individual has appeared in court as extradition proceedings began in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a British army base in the year 2012.

Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is hailing from the Manchester area, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he would challenge the extradition request. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was authorized by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been facing a single count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would seek his extradition to stand trial.

Purkiss previously worked as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on tours of Afghanistan.

The victim, 21, a beautician who had a young daughter, went missing after a night out, and her corpse was found 60 days later in the area of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had before been taken into custody or accused in association with her death. Purkiss’s arrest followed a fresh police investigation, which came after a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication contacted several active and retired troops in the military group.

This inquiry has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, holds legal authority in the case.