Ex UK Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenyan Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has shown up before a judge as deportation processes began in the investigation of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was killed near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester, was presented at the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and told the court he would challenge the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was taken into custody on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been accused of a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would request his deportation to answer to accusations.

He was once employed as a medical attendant with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night out, and her body was discovered 60 days later in the grounds of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

Not a single person had earlier been taken into custody or charged in association with her demise. The arrest of Purkiss was the result of a recent detective probe, which followed a article in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the media outlet approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.

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