Ex British Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Appears in Court

A suspect has been presented in court as extradition hearings started 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, 38 years old, who is originally from Greater Manchester, appeared before the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the extradition. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday evening.

An arrest warrant for the suspect was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been facing a sole charge, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to stand trial.

The defendant served formerly as a medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, 21, a beautician who had a young daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her corpse was found after two months in the grounds of the hotel where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had earlier been arrested or charged in relation to her passing. Purkiss’s arrest followed a fresh police investigation, which came after a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication contacted several current and former soldiers in the military group.

The investigation has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.