Ex UK Soldier Accused of Killing Kenya Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has appeared in court as extradition proceedings began in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a female from Kenya who was found dead near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, 38 years old, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, appeared before the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the extradition request. Sources suggest that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was released by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the accused had been accused of a one count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to answer to accusations.

The defendant previously worked as a medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, twenty-one, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, went missing after a night on the town, and her body was located after two months in the grounds of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

No one had earlier been taken into custody or charged in association with her demise. Purkiss’s arrest came after a new police inquiry, which came after a report in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet reached out to several serving and ex-military personnel in the unit.

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