Ex British Serviceman Charged of Killing Kenyan Woman Appears in Courtroom

An individual has shown up before a judge as extradition hearings began in the investigation of Agnes Wanjiru, a woman of Kenyan origin who was killed near a British army base in the year 2012.

Purkiss, 38, who is hailing from the Manchester area, appeared before the magistrates' court in Westminster on Friday, and informed the court he would challenge the extradition request. Sources suggest that he was detained on Thursday night.

A warrant for arrest for the defendant was released by a Kenyan court in Nairobi in the month of September. Legal prosecutors informed the Kenyan judiciary that Purkiss had been facing a sole charge, of killing, and that the government of Kenya would pursue his extradition to face charges.

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

The victim, twenty-one, a hair stylist who had a baby daughter, went missing after a evening out, and her corpse was found 60 days later in the grounds of the lodging where she had most recently observed.

Not a single person had earlier been taken into custody or accused in connection to her death. His detention was the result of a fresh police investigation, which was initiated after a article in 2021 by a weekly publication, in which the newspaper reached out to several active and retired troops in the unit.

The investigation has been spearheaded by investigators from Kenya, which, under a bilateral security treaty, holds legal authority in the matter.