Former British Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Female Shows Up in Courtroom

A suspect has shown up before a judge as extradition hearings began in the case of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is a native of the Manchester area, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on the last Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood that he was taken into custody on Thursday night.

A detention order for the suspect was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a one count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to stand trial.

Purkiss served formerly as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night on the town, and her corpse was found 60 days later in the area of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had before been arrested or charged in connection to her passing. Purkiss’s arrest came after a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper reached out to several serving and ex-military personnel in the regiment.

This inquiry has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.