Former British Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Female Appears in Court

A man has been presented in court as extradition hearings started in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a UK military installation in 2012.

Purkiss, 38 years old, who is originally from the Manchester area, showed up in the Westminster court on the last Friday, and told the court he intended to contest the extradition. Sources suggest that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

A warrant for arrest for Purkiss was released by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been charged with a one count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would pursue his extradition to answer to accusations.

The defendant served formerly as a army medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the military regiment for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

The victim, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a infant daughter, went missing after a night on the town, and her body was discovered two months later in the premises of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

No one had earlier been detained or charged in association with her passing. His detention came after a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a report in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication reached out to several current and former soldiers in the regiment.

The investigation has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a mutual defense pact, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.