Former UK Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenyan Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has been presented in court as extradition proceedings commenced in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a female from Kenya who was murdered near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from the Manchester area, showed up in the Westminster court on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the extradition request. It is understood that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in the month of September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that the accused had been facing a one count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would seek his extradition to stand trial.

Purkiss served formerly as a medical attendant with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hairdresser who had a young daughter, went missing after a night out, and her body was found two months later in the premises of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

Not a single person had before been arrested or indicted in association with her death. His detention came after a recent detective probe, which came after a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication contacted several serving and ex-military personnel in the unit.

The investigation has been headed by investigators from Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, holds legal authority in the case.