Ex British Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenyan Woman Appears in Court

An individual has been presented in court as extradition proceedings commenced in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from the Manchester area, showed up in the Westminster court on Friday, and stated to the court he planned to fight the extradition request. Sources suggest that he was arrested on Thursday night.

A detention order for the defendant was authorized by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that the individual had been charged with a single count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to stand trial.

He previously worked as a army medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the military regiment for the English northwest, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hair stylist who had a young daughter, vanished after a night out, and her remains was discovered two months later in the premises of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

No one had previously been arrested or accused in relation to her death. The arrest of Purkiss followed a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a article in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication contacted several current and former soldiers in the unit.

The investigation has been spearheaded by detectives in Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.