Ex UK Soldier Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Shows Up in Courtroom

A man has been presented in court as extradition hearings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a UK military installation in the year 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester region, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and stated to the court he planned to fight the extradition request. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that the accused had been facing a one count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to stand trial.

The defendant was once employed as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the military regiment for the English northwest, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, disappeared after a night out, and her corpse was found after two months in the premises of the lodging where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had before been arrested or charged in connection to her demise. The arrest of Purkiss was the result of a fresh police investigation, which came after a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

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