Former British Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenya Woman Shows Up in Court

A man has shown up before a judge as extradition proceedings commenced in the legal matter of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was murdered near a British forces camp in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and stated to the court he intended to contest the extradition request. Reports indicate that he was taken into custody on the evening of Thursday.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was issued by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that the individual had been facing a single count, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would request his deportation to stand trial.

The defendant was once employed as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the army unit for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, twenty-one, a beautician who had a young daughter, disappeared after a night on the town, and her body was located 60 days later in the premises of the hotel where she had previously spotted.

Not a single person had earlier been taken into custody or charged in association with her passing. Purkiss’s arrest came after a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication approached several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

This inquiry has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.