Former UK Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenya Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

A suspect has shown up before a judge as deportation processes began in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was found dead near a UK military installation in 2012.

Robert Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from the Manchester area, appeared before the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and told the court he planned to fight the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was arrested on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors informed the Kenyan judiciary that the accused had been charged with a sole charge, of homicide, and that the government of Kenya would pursue his extradition to face charges.

He was once employed as a army medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, 21, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her remains was located after two months in the grounds of the accommodation where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had previously been taken into custody or indicted in association with her demise. The arrest of Purkiss came after a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet contacted several current and former soldiers in the unit.

The investigation has been spearheaded by detectives in Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.