Ex UK Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenya Woman Shows Up in Court

An individual has appeared in court as extradition hearings commenced in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a UK military installation in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from the Manchester area, was presented at the Westminster court on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was authorized by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that the accused had been accused of a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to answer to accusations.

He previously worked as a medical attendant with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, went missing after a night out, and her corpse was found two months later in the area of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

No one had earlier been arrested or charged in connection to her death. His detention was the result of a recent detective probe, which came after a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.

The investigation has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, holds legal authority in the case.