Former UK Serviceman Accused of Murdering Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Court

An individual has been presented in court as extradition proceedings commenced in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a female from Kenya who was killed near a British forces camp in 2012.

Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from Greater Manchester region, showed up in the Westminster court on Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in the month of September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that the accused had been accused of a one count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would pursue his extradition to face charges.

He was once employed as a medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a infant daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her corpse was located two months later in the area of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

No one had earlier been arrested or charged in relation to her demise. The arrest of Purkiss followed a fresh police investigation, which followed a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet reached out to several current and former soldiers in the unit.

The probe has been spearheaded by detectives in Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the legal case.