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

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings started in the investigation of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan woman who was murdered near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is originally from Greater Manchester, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and informed the court he planned to fight the extradition request. It is understood that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

An arrest warrant for Purkiss was released by a court in Nairobi in the month of September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that the accused had been accused of a sole charge, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to face charges.

The defendant was once employed as a medical attendant with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a beautician who had a young daughter, disappeared after a night out, and her body was located two months later in the premises of the lodging where she had previously spotted.

Not a single person had earlier been taken into custody or charged in connection to her demise. His detention was the result of a fresh police investigation, which came after a article in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper contacted several current and former soldiers in the unit.

The investigation has been headed by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, retains jurisdiction in the matter.