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Wanjiru Murder: UK Soldier denies meeting her, opposes extradition
Agnes Wanjiru (inset) is believed to have been murdered by a British soldier at Lions Court Hotel, Nanyuki Town in 2012.
What you need to know:
- Robert Purkiss, a former British soldier, is facing extradition to Kenya to stand trial over the 2012 killing of Agnes Wanjiru.
- According to British media, Mr Purkiss has denied murdering the 21-year-old hairdresser insisting he had never met her.
The prime suspect in the murder of Agnes Wanjiru has insisted on his innocence, saying he never met the young woman.
Mr Robert Purkiss, a former British soldier, is facing extradition to Kenya to stand trial over the 2012 killing of Wanjiru at Lions Court Hotel in Nanyuki Town.
He is currently being held in a remand prison in London after being denied bail as he fights the extradition request.
According to British media, Mr Purkiss has denied murdering the 21-year-old hairdresser insisting he had never met her. Wanjiru had joined a group of British soldiers for a night of drinking shortly before she disappeared.
Read: Kenya free to prosecute British soldiers accused of crimes committed outside official duty hours
Mr Purkiss worked as a medic attached to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) in Nanyuki.
“I did not kill Agnes Wanjiru. I do not believe I ever met her either. Neither would I joke about killing a woman — that conversation has no basis in reality. I only heard about the incident weeks later when I was on a military exercise in Canada. Only much later was I told a body had been found in a tank,” Mr Purkiss is quoted by Britain’s Daily Mail as saying in a recent interview from prison.
He also denied claims that he and Wanjiru went to a hotel room together on the night she disappeared. Her body was recovered from a septic tank at the same hotel two months later.
“I never booked the hotel room, and can’t remember ever being in it. I think we were back in camp by midnight. I was a medic. I have treated people on the battlefield. Agnes was stabbed in the abdomen. She would have lost a lot of blood. If I killed her and dumped her body, there would have been blood on my clothes and hands. There was none,” he added.
Agnes Wanjiru, who was found dead in 2012 after she went missing.
Last month, Wanjiru’s niece Esther Njoki accompanied by the family’s lawyer Mbiu Kamau flew to London to lobby for the arrest and prosecution of the prime suspect.
During the four-day visit, she met UK Defence Secretary John Healy who assured her that the British government was committed to supporting the quest for justice. The visit followed a Kenyan court’s decision in September ordering Purkiss’s extradition.
Extradition proceedings
Two weeks later, the suspect was arrested and arraigned as extradition proceedings began. Wanjiru’s family welcomed the development saying justice finally seemed within reach.
“My family is incredibly relieved to hear that the suspect in my aunt’s case has been arrested. We have waited for so many years for this moment, which marks an important step towards finally obtaining justice for our beloved Agnes,” Ms Njoki told the Daily Nation.
Esther Njoki 20, niece of the late Agnes Wanjiru, when she appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Defence Intelligence and Foreign Relations on September 3, 2024.
She added that although the extradition process may take months or even years, the family remains hopeful that Mr Purkiss will one day face trial in Kenya.
The Wanjiru murder case mirrors other atrocities allegedly committed by British soldiers during training exercises in Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu counties — many of which have ended up in court.
Early this year, a group of Kenyan women won a landmark case in the UK allowing them to pursue compensation and child support from the UK Ministry of Defence and BATUK.
The women told the court how soldiers stationed in Nanyuki formed relationships with them, only to disappear without acknowledgement or support once their rotations ended.
Some mothers described being left with children who carry British surnames but receive no recognition or assistance.
“They promised marriage, education, and care,” one woman testified. “Then they left without a word.”
The UK court ruling marks the first time British military authorities have been compelled to confront such claims abroad, setting a precedent for other women in former colonies.
