Former UK Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

A man has appeared in court as extradition hearings started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the deportation. Sources suggest that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

A detention order for the suspect was authorized by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been charged with a sole charge, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to face charges.

He previously worked as a army medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a beautician who had a baby daughter, disappeared after a evening out, and her corpse was found after two months in the premises of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had before been detained or indicted in relation to her death. The arrest of Purkiss was the result of a fresh police investigation, which followed a exposé in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the newspaper approached several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

This inquiry has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.