Ex UK Soldier Accused of Killing Kenyan Woman Appears in Courtroom

An individual has been presented in court as extradition proceedings began in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a British forces camp in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is a native of the Manchester area, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the deportation. Reports indicate that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for the defendant was released by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been facing a single count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to face charges.

Purkiss served formerly as a medical attendant with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, disappeared after a night out, and her remains was located two months later in the grounds of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

No one had before been detained or indicted in association with her demise. The arrest of Purkiss followed a fresh police investigation, which followed a report in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication reached out to several current and former soldiers in the unit.

The investigation has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, retains jurisdiction in the case.