Former British Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenya Female Appears in Courtroom
A man has been presented in court as deportation processes started in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was killed near a UK military installation in the year 2012.
Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and stated to the court he planned to fight the extradition request. It is understood that he was detained on Thursday night.
A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a sole charge, of murder, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to stand trial.
The defendant served formerly as a army medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the military regiment for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.
Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, vanished after a night out, and her corpse was found 60 days later in the grounds of the hotel where she had previously spotted.
No one had earlier been arrested or indicted in connection to her demise. His detention followed a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a article in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication reached out to several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.
The investigation has been led by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, retains jurisdiction in the matter.
