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

A man has appeared in court as extradition hearings began in the legal matter of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a British forces camp in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from the Manchester area, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the extradition. It is understood that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was issued by a Nairobi court in September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a sole charge, of homicide, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to answer to accusations.

He was once employed as a medical attendant with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a beautician who had a infant daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her body was found two months later in the premises of the accommodation where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had earlier been detained or indicted in connection to her death. His detention was the result of a new police inquiry, which followed a exposé in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the publication reached out to several current and former soldiers in the military group.

This inquiry has been headed by investigators from Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, holds legal authority in the matter.