A former British soldier allegedly told a colleague the 2012 murder of a Kenyan woman who was found in a septic tank was ‘sex that went wrong’.
Robert James Purkiss, 38, told Westminster magistrates he did not consent to his extradition to the African nation, after the country’s director of public prosecutions said he was wanted over the ‘brutal’ murder of 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru.
Purkiss, who was arrested on Thursday, is now fighting extradition to Kenya where he is wanted on suspicion of killing 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru more than a decade ago – a case that has caused diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
The body of the young mother was found in a septic tank two months after she reportedly went partying with British soldiers at a hotel in Nanyuki, a town in central Kenya where Britain has a permanent army garrison.
In September, a Nairobi High Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Purkiss, a married father of two, with local prosecutors saying extradition proceedings would be initiated to bring him before a Kenyan court.
Purkiss told Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London that he did not consent to being extradited.
Judge Briony Clarke rejected his application for bail and ordered him to appear before the court again on November 14.
A court hearing on Friday was told that a colleague of Purkiss saw him crying outside the Lions Court Hotel at the time of the alleged murder, and when asked why he was crying, said: ‘I’ve killed her.’
Robert James Purkiss, 38, a former combat medic and infantryman faces extradition to Kenya to face trial for the murder of Agnes Wanjiru. Credit: Facebook
Agnes Wanjiru, 21, (pictured) was last seen alive with British troops at a hotel in Nanyuki in March 2012
Pictured: the entrance of the Lion’s Court Lodge, currently closed for renovations, where most of British soldiers allegedly go for entertainment after training
The court also heard that in 2018, Purkiss had allegedly responded with a ‘smiling face emoji’ after a colleague posted a picture of himself outside the Lions Court Hotel in the town of Nanyuki with the comment ‘if you know you know’, while also referencing the septic tank.
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.
David Josse, representing Purkiss, said the former soldier ‘vehemently denies’ murder and has received Ministry of Defence funding to help pay for his defence.
Home Office barrister Joel Smith told the court Purkiss was a soldier who was stationed in Kenya for a six-week training exercise at the time of the alleged murder.
Mr Smith said: ‘There is evidence that when the soldiers were given time off, they would go into town, drink heavily, and they would pay local women for sex.’
He said some of the soldiers left their base and went drinking in the town on the night of March 31 2012.
‘They were drinking heavily. Many of them, including this defendant, ended up in the Lions Court Hotel,’ Mr Smith said.
He continued to say Ms Wanjiru was last seen leaving the hotel with a soldier.
Pictured: Rose Wanyua, the sister of Agnes Wanjiru, shows journalists pictures of her late sister inside her house in Majengo Slums in Nanyuki
Esther Njoki, the niece of Agnes Wanjiru, speaking to journalists in London
Chief of the General Staff, General Mark Carleton-Smith (pictured) has said he is ‘appalled’ by claims British soldiers were involved in the killing of a Kenyan woman whose body was found in a septic tank
Mr Smith said: ‘Ms Wanjiru and two of her friends went into Nanyuki town.
‘She had left her baby daughter with a friend, and they ended up at the Lions Court Hotel where they met a number of soldiers.
‘The last time Ms Wanjiru was seen alive, she was leaving the hotel with a soldier.
‘As she left, she told a friend in her local language that she was going to ‘hustle for her daughter’.
‘As I’ve said, she was never seen alive again.’
Mr Smith said Ms Wanjiru’s body was found two months later in a septic tank and it was ‘significantly decomposed’.
He told the court: ‘She didn’t return home the next day to pick up her daughter.
‘Her friends started to look for her, and on April 2 she was reported missing to the police.
John Muchiri Kamunge (pictured), the brother-in-law to Agnes Wanjiru, 20, visits her grave at a cemetery in Nanyuki, Kenya
Kenyan sex workers hold placards and shout slogans in the streets during a protest in October 2021 against the murder and harassment of their colleagues in recent years by their clients – who they claim the majority of which are British soldiers
‘A couple of months later, on June 5, in the grounds within the hotel, they found her body decomposing in a septic tank.’
Mr Smith said the body was ‘significantly decomposed’ and a post-mortem examination identified a 2cm stab wound to the lower abdomen and a collapsed lung.
Mr Smith said inquiries had ‘uncovered confessions’ made by Purkiss to fellow soldiers about the incident in Kenya.
Addressing what one soldier had said, the lawyer told the court: ‘(He) told military police he had been in Kenya, that he and others had snuck out to go drinking at the Lions Court Hotel and that he had seen this defendant.’
Mr Smith said the soldier spoke of seeing Purkiss ‘cry’.
He said: ‘When he was asked why, the defendant said ‘I’ve killed her’.’
Mr Smith said a post-mortem examination concluded Ms Wanjiru ‘might have been alive when placed in the septic tank’.
Purkiss, who was wearing a patterned short-sleeved shirt, shook his head in the dock as Mr Smith set out the allegation against him.
The Wanjiru family (pictured alongside their legal representative, left) in court. In September, a Nairobi High Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Purkiss, a married father of two, with local prosecutors saying extradition proceedings would be initiated to bring him before a Kenyan court
The Home Office lawyer said that in the following days, there were ‘rumours on camp that the defendant had killed someone’.
In an alleged confession, Purkiss is said to have told a colleague ‘it was sex that went wrong’.
Mr Smith said Purkiss had also allegedly shown a fellow soldier a body in a septic tank.
He told the court: ‘He then went to show the witness a septic tank, in which was the body of a woman.
‘(The soldier) said he returned to the bar and told all the soldiers, but they didn’t believe him because they were drunk.
‘Two other soldiers have told military police that they recall (the soldier) mentioning that confession that night.’
Mr Smith added that there were also reports of other soldiers who ‘deny hearing reports of that confession’.
The Home Office lawyer also told the court of Facebook messages in 2018 that were shared between former members of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
Relatives of Agnes holding photographs. Since Kenya gained independence in 1963, Britain has kept a permanent army base near Nanyuki, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital Nairobi
Agnes (pictured in a family photograph). An inquest in 2018 concluded she had been murdered by British soldiers after she was discovered near a British Army base, two months after she disappeared
One of the soldiers posted a picture of himself outside the Lions Court Hotel with the comment: ‘If you know you know,’ the court heard.
The soldier also referenced the septic tank, Mr Smith said.
The court heard Purkiss sent a ‘smiling face emoji’ in response, and when a group member asked him ‘do you get choked up?’, he replied: ‘Come to think of it I have had a sore throat today.’
Purkiss was remanded into custody and will next appear at the same court via video link on November 14 for a further bail application hearing.
Wanjiru’s family has been seeking justice for years and their representative met with British Defense Secretary John Healey, who pledged his support after the Nairobi court in September ordered the arrest of Purkiss, who was not publicly named at the time.
The case was a source of contention between Kenyan authorities and Britain’s previous Conservative government, and was in limbo for years.
The Labour party, which ousted the Conservatives from power in July last year, has vowed to support the Kenyan investigation and ‘secure a resolution to this case’.
Since Kenya gained independence in 1963, Britain has kept a permanent army base near Nanyuki, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital Nairobi.
The British Army Training Unit in Kenya is an economic lifeline for many in Nanyuki but has faced criticism over allegations of misconduct by its soldiers, as well as the maiming of civilians by unexploded ordnance.
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