Ex UK Soldier Accused of Killing Kenyan Female Shows Up in Court

A suspect has appeared in court as extradition hearings commenced in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a Kenyan woman who was found dead near a British forces camp in the year 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester, was presented at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and informed the court he intended to contest the extradition. It is understood 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 prosecution told the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a sole charge, of homicide, and that the government of Kenya would seek his extradition to face charges.

The defendant previously worked as a medical attendant with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, twenty-one, a hairdresser who had a baby daughter, vanished after a night out, and her corpse was discovered two months later in the grounds of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

No one had previously been taken into custody or accused in relation to her passing. Purkiss’s arrest followed a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication approached several current and former soldiers in the military group.

This inquiry has been headed by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the matter.