Former British Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenyan Female Appears in Courtroom

A man has shown up before a judge as deportation processes commenced in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was found dead near a British forces camp in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is a native of Greater Manchester region, showed up in the magistrates' court in Westminster on the last Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the extradition. It is understood that he was detained on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was authorized by a court in Nairobi in September. Legal prosecutors stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a single count, of homicide, and that the government of Kenya would pursue his extradition to stand trial.

He previously worked as a medical attendant with the Lancaster Regiment, the military regiment for the north-west of England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, disappeared after a evening out, and her corpse was located after two months in the premises of the accommodation where she had last been seen.

No one had before been detained or charged in relation to her demise. The arrest of Purkiss came after a new police inquiry, which followed a exposé in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the newspaper contacted several active and retired troops in the regiment.

This inquiry has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral security treaty, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.