Ex British Serviceman Charged of Murdering Kenyan Woman Appears in Courtroom

A suspect has shown up before a judge as deportation processes commenced in the case of Agnes Wanjiru, a female from Kenya who was found dead near a British army base in 2012.

Purkiss, 38 years old, who is hailing from Greater Manchester region, was presented at the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and stated to the court he would challenge the deportation. Reports indicate that he was arrested on Thursday night.

A detention order for the defendant was authorized by a court in Nairobi in September. The prosecution stated before the Kenyan court that the individual had been accused of a one count, of murder, and that the Kenyan government would request his deportation to answer to accusations.

He was once employed as a medic with the Lancaster Regiment, the infantry regiment for the English northwest, including on missions to Afghanistan.

Wanjiru, twenty-one, a hair stylist who had a young daughter, disappeared after a night on the town, and her body was located two months later in the grounds of the hotel where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had earlier been arrested or accused in connection to her demise. The arrest of Purkiss came after a new police inquiry, which followed a report in 2021 by a Sunday newspaper, in which the newspaper reached out to several current and former soldiers in the military group.

This inquiry has been headed by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral defence agreement, maintains prosecutorial power in the case.