Ex British Soldier Accused of Killing Kenyan Female Shows Up in Courtroom
A man has shown up before a judge as deportation processes started in the investigation of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a UK military installation in 2012.
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 intended to contest the extradition request. Sources suggest that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.
A warrant for arrest for the defendant was released by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been charged with a single count, of homicide, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to answer to accusations.
He served formerly as a army medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.
Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her body was located after two months in the premises of the hotel where she had most recently observed.
Nobody had earlier been detained or indicted in association with her demise. Purkiss’s arrest followed a fresh police investigation, which came after a exposé in the year 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the media outlet contacted several active and retired troops in the military group.
This inquiry has been headed by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the matter.