Ex British Soldier Charged of Killing Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

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

Robert Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester, was presented at the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and informed the court he planned to fight the deportation. Reports indicate that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

A detention order for the suspect was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that Purkiss had been facing a sole charge, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would seek his extradition to answer to accusations.

Purkiss served formerly as a medical attendant with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her remains was discovered after two months in the area 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 passing. Purkiss’s arrest followed a new police inquiry, which came after a report in the year 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the media outlet approached several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

The probe has been led by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.