Former British Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenya Female Appears in Court

A man has been presented in court as deportation processes commenced in the investigation of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was murdered near a UK military installation in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from Greater Manchester, appeared before the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and told the court he would challenge the deportation. It is understood that he was arrested on Thursday night.

A detention order for the defendant was issued by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been charged with a single count, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to stand trial.

The defendant served formerly 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, twenty-one, a beautician who had a baby daughter, went missing after a night out, and her body was discovered 60 days later in the premises of the hotel where she had most recently observed.

Nobody had previously been arrested or accused in relation to her death. The arrest of Purkiss came after a new police inquiry, which followed a article in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the publication reached out to several current and former soldiers in the military group.

The investigation has been led by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, maintains prosecutorial power in the legal case.