A former British soldier faces extradition to Kenya over the alleged murder of a 21-year-old woman in 2012.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Robert James Purkiss was arrested in Tidworth, Wiltshire, on November 6 and appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
He was arrested by specialist officers from the NCA’s National Extradition Unit in connection with the murder of Agnes Manjiru after an arrest warrant was issued in September, the agency added.
Mr Purkiss, 38, told the court he intended to contest the extradition and was remanded in custody ahead of his next appearance at the same court on November 14.
His lawyers told the court he “vehemently denies” murder.
Ms Wanjiru’s body was discovered in a septic tank near a hotel in the town of Nanyuki, about 200km north of Nairobi, three months after she disappeared on March 31, 2012. She had a five-month-old baby at the time.
His body was found near a British army training camp. The night she was killed, she was apparently at a bar with friends where British soldiers were also present.
Ms Wanjiru’s niece Esther Njoki met Britain’s defense minister last month to press for Mr Purkiss’s extradition.
In a statement released on Friday by Leigh Day, the lawyers representing Ms Wanjiru’s family, Ms Njoki said: “My family is incredibly relieved to learn that the suspect in my aunt’s case has been arrested.
“We have waited so many years for this moment which marks an important step towards finally obtaining justice for our beloved Agnès.”
Tessa Gregory, partner at Leigh Day, said: “This is a huge moment for our client and her family who have been fighting for over a decade to get justice for Agnes.
“We hope that the British and Kenyan authorities will now work together to ensure that the suspect can be tried in Kenya as quickly as possible.”
Ms Wanjiru’s family have long accused the British army of covering up her death and Kenyan authorities of failing to properly investigate the matter at the time.
An investigation into her death was launched in 2018 following pressure from Ms Wanjiru’s family, as well as Kenyan rights and feminist groups.
In 2019, she concluded that Ms Wanjiru had been unlawfully killed by one or two British soldiers and that she had been stabbed in the chest and abdomen.
Later in 2021, a Sunday Times investigation reported that a British soldier had confessed to his colleagues to killing Ms Wanjiru. The soldier left the army after the incident and is believed to have continued to live in the UK.
In 2024, the army announced it was launching an internal investigation into the behavior of British soldiers in Kenya, including Nanyuki.
The study found 35 suspected cases of soldiers engaging in sexual exploitation and abuse, including transactional sex, with local women – nine of them occurring after the military officially banned such behavior in 2022.
