Former UK Soldier Charged of Killing Kenya Female Shows Up in Court

An individual has shown up before a judge as extradition hearings began in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was found dead near a British forces camp in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from Greater Manchester region, was presented at the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and stated to the court he planned to fight the extradition. Reports indicate that he was taken into custody on Thursday evening.

A detention order for Purkiss was authorized by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution informed the Kenyan judiciary that the accused had been charged with a single count, of killing, and that the Kenyan government would pursue his extradition to stand trial.

Purkiss served formerly as a medic with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the army unit for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a beautician who had a young daughter, disappeared after a evening out, and her corpse was located after two months in the area of the hotel where she had previously spotted.

No one had earlier been taken into custody or charged in connection to her death. Purkiss’s arrest followed a new police inquiry, which was initiated after a report in the year 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication approached several active and retired troops in the military group.

The probe has been led by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral security treaty, retains jurisdiction in the legal case.