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

An individual has shown up before a judge as extradition hearings commenced in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a British army base in the year 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on the last Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the deportation. It is understood that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

A detention order for Purkiss was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that Purkiss had been accused of a single count, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to face charges.

He was once employed as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, twenty-one, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night out, and her body was discovered two months later in the grounds of the accommodation where she had most recently observed.

No one had earlier been taken into custody or accused in association with her death. The arrest of Purkiss was the result of a recent detective probe, which followed a report in the year 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

The investigation has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, maintains prosecutorial power in the matter.