Former British Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenya Woman Shows Up in Court

A suspect has appeared in court as deportation processes started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a female from Kenya who was found dead near a UK military installation in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is hailing 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 taken into custody on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was issued by a Nairobi court in September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been facing a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to face charges.

Purkiss 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.

Wanjiru, 21, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her remains was discovered two months later in the premises of the hotel where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had before been arrested or charged in association with her demise. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a new police inquiry, which came after a exposé in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the media outlet approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the unit.

The investigation has been led by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.