Ex UK Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Court

An individual has shown up before a judge as deportation processes started in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a UK military installation in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the extradition. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was issued by a Nairobi court in September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that the accused had been facing a single count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to answer to accusations.

He served formerly as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a beautician who had a baby daughter, went missing after a night on the town, and her remains was located two months later in the grounds of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

No one had previously been taken into custody or accused in association with her death. The arrest of Purkiss came after a recent detective probe, which followed a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

This inquiry has been headed by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the matter.