Ex UK Serviceman Accused of Killing Kenya Woman Appears in Court

An individual has appeared in court as deportation processes commenced in the case of the victim Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a UK military installation in 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from the Manchester area, showed up in Westminster magistrates court on Friday, and told the court he would challenge the deportation. Sources suggest that he was detained on the evening of Thursday.

A detention order for the defendant was issued by a Nairobi court in September. The prosecution told the Kenyan court that Purkiss had been accused of a sole charge, of murder, and that the Kenyan authorities would pursue his extradition to face charges.

The defendant served formerly as a medical attendant with the regiment of the Duke of Lancaster, the infantry regiment for the northwestern England, including on deployments in Afghanistan.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, a beautician who had a infant daughter, disappeared after a night on the town, and her corpse was found two months later in the premises of the accommodation where she had previously spotted.

No one had previously been detained or charged in connection to her passing. The arrest of Purkiss came after a recent detective probe, which followed a exposé in 2021 by the Sunday Times, in which the newspaper approached several active and retired troops in the regiment.

The probe has been spearheaded by Kenyan detectives, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, holds legal authority in the case.