Ex UK Soldier Accused of Killing Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Courtroom

A suspect has appeared in court 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.

Purkiss, 38 years old, who is originally from the Manchester area, was presented at the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and told the court he planned to fight the extradition. It is understood that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

A detention order for Purkiss was authorized by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been accused of a one count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to answer to accusations.

He was once employed as a medical attendant with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on tours of Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a beautician who had a infant daughter, vanished after a night out, and her corpse was found two months later in the area of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

Nobody had previously been detained or indicted in connection to her demise. Purkiss’s arrest was the result of a recent detective probe, which followed a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the media outlet reached out to several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

This inquiry has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the matter.