Former British Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenya Woman Shows Up in Court

A suspect has appeared in court as deportation processes commenced in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a British army base in 2012.

The accused Robert Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of the Manchester area, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the deportation. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday evening.

A detention order for Purkiss was issued by a Nairobi court in September. Legal prosecutors told the Kenyan court that the accused had been charged with a sole charge, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to face charges.

The defendant previously worked as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the military regiment for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a young daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her corpse was located 60 days later in the premises of the hotel where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had before been taken into custody or indicted in connection to her death. His detention came after a fresh police investigation, which followed a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.

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