Ex British Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

A man has appeared in court as deportation processes commenced in the investigation of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was murdered near a British army base in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, was presented at the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the deportation. Reports indicate that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was authorized by a Nairobi court in the month of September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been facing a single count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to stand trial.

He previously worked as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

The victim, twenty-one, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her remains was discovered 60 days later in the grounds of the hotel where she had previously spotted.

No one had before been detained or charged in relation to her death. Purkiss’s arrest came after a fresh police investigation, which followed a report in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the unit.

The probe has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the matter.