A soldier from Greater Manchester has been named as the man accused of murdering a woman whose body was found in a septic tank behind a Kenyan hotel back in 2012
A Kenyan court has issued an arrest warrant for Robert James Purkiss, a 38-year-old former British soldier, accusing him of murdering 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru in 2012 near a British army training base in Nanyuki.
Wanjiru disappeared after leaving a bar with British soldiers, and her stabbed body was later found in a septic tank on a disused base. Kenyan officials are seeking Purkiss’s extradition from the UK, where he resides, with the UK government pledging cooperation amid potential legal hurdles.
Purkiss was attached to the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment and served as a medic and infantryman.
Court documents from the African nation, first reported by the Sunday Times, show Purkiss is accused of a single count of murdering Agnes Wanjiru on the night of March 31, 2012.
An inquest in 2018 concluded Ms Wanjiru was murdered by British soldiers after she was discovered near a British Army base, two months after she disappeared
If there is an extradition, it would be the first time a serving or former British soldier is sent abroad to face trial
