Ex UK Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenya Woman Appears in Court

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition hearings started in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was killed near a UK military installation in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, showed up in the Westminster court on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the deportation. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was authorized by a Nairobi court in September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been accused of a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to stand trial.

He previously worked as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her corpse was located 60 days later in the premises of the accommodation where she had most recently observed.

No one had previously been arrested or indicted in association with her demise. His detention came after a recent detective probe, which followed a report in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication approached several active and retired troops in the military group.

This inquiry has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the case.