Ex UK Soldier Accused of Murdering Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Court

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition hearings began in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was found dead near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, was presented at the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the extradition request. Sources suggest that he was detained on Thursday evening.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was authorized by a court in Nairobi in the month of September. The state attorneys informed the Kenyan judiciary that the individual had been charged with a one count, of homicide, and that the Kenyan authorities would request his deportation to stand trial.

Purkiss served formerly as a medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, twenty-one, a hair stylist who had a young daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her corpse was located after two months in the area of the lodging where she had last been seen.

Nobody had earlier been taken into custody or indicted in relation to her death. Purkiss’s arrest came after a new police inquiry, which came after a exposé in the year 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication reached out to several active and retired troops in the unit.

The investigation has been led by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.