Ex UK Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenya Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

A man has shown up before a judge as deportation processes started in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was killed near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he would challenge the extradition. Reports indicate that he was detained on Thursday evening.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been facing a one count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to face charges.

He previously worked as a medical attendant with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, twenty-one, a beautician who had a young daughter, vanished after a night out, and her remains was discovered two months later in the premises of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

Nobody had previously been detained or accused in association with her passing. His detention came after a fresh police investigation, which came after a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication reached out to several current and former soldiers in the military group.

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