Ex UK Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenyan Woman Shows Up in Court

An individual has appeared in court as deportation processes started in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a Kenyan national, a female from Kenya who was killed near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, thirty-eight, who is originally from the Manchester area, showed up in the Westminster court on the last Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the deportation. Reports indicate that he was arrested on the evening of Thursday.

A warrant for arrest for the suspect was authorized by a court in Nairobi in September. The state attorneys told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been charged with a single count, of killing, and that the Kenyan authorities would seek his extradition to face charges.

Purkiss previously worked as a army medic with the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the army unit for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, 21 years old, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, vanished after a evening out, and her remains was discovered 60 days later in the premises of the accommodation where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had previously been arrested or charged in association with her demise. Purkiss’s arrest came after a recent detective probe, which was initiated after a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the publication reached out to several serving and ex-military personnel in the military group.

The probe has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a mutual defense pact, maintains prosecutorial power in the matter.