Ex British Serviceman Accused of Murdering Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

A suspect has been presented in court as deportation processes began in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a UK military installation in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is a native of the Manchester area, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he would challenge the extradition. Reports indicate that he was taken into custody on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was issued by a Nairobi court in the month of September. Legal prosecutors told the Kenyan court that the accused had been charged with a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to face charges.

The defendant previously worked as a medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the military regiment for the English northwest, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, disappeared after a night on the town, and her corpse was located 60 days later in the area of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

No one had previously been taken into custody or accused in association with her passing. His detention was the result of a recent detective probe, which came after a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication contacted several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

The probe has been headed by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral security treaty, maintains prosecutorial power in the legal case.