A former British soldier has been arrested and brought before a London court as he fights extradition to Kenya, where he faces murder charges over the death of Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was found dumped in a septic tank 13 years ago.
The suspect 38-year-old Robert James Purkiss, appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 7, as proceedings began to determine whether he will be sent back to Kenya to stand trial.
Wanjiru, a 21-year-old mother, was last seen in March 2012 leaving a hotel bar in Nanyuki with a group of British soldiers. Her body was later discovered in a septic tank behind the hotel a discovery that sparked years of outrage, pain, and calls for justice from her family and the Kenyan public.
According to prosecutor Joel Smith, Purkiss allegedly broke down and confessed to fellow soldiers that he had killed Wanjiru.
“When he was asked why he was crying, the defendant said, ‘I’ve killed her,’” Smith told the court.
One of his former colleagues told investigators that Purkiss later described the incident as “sex that went wrong” and allegedly showed another soldier where Wanjiru’s body had been hidden.
A post-mortem report later revealed that Wanjiru had been beaten and stabbed — and may have still been alive when she was dumped in the tank.
In September 2025, a Kenyan court issued an international arrest warrant, formally requesting Purkiss’s extradition. The UK’s National Crime Agency confirmed that he was arrested by specialist officers following the request.
Purkiss, who lives in the UK with his wife and two children, “vehemently denies” the allegations, according to his lawyer David Josse. He did not enter a plea during the hearing and reportedly shook his head as prosecutors laid out the details of the case.
The court rejected his request for release, ordering that he remain in custody until a bail hearing set for November 14, 2025.
The UK Ministry of Defence has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring justice for Wanjiru’s family, saying it continues to cooperate with Kenyan authorities in the case.
