Former British soldier Robert James Purkiss has been arrested in the United Kingdom in connection with the 2012 murder of Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru.
According to a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) on Saturday, November 8, Purkiss is set to appear before a London court on November 14, 2025, for a bail hearing linked to Kenya’s extradition request.
A case management session is scheduled for December 9, 2025.
Ex-British Soldier Arrested in UK Over 2012 Murder of Kenyan Woman Agnes Wanjiru. Photo: Courtesy.
The arrest follows weeks of collaboration between Kenyan and British authorities, coming six weeks after the DPP launched formal extradition proceedings in the long-running case.
On September 16, 2025, a Nairobi court issued a warrant of arrest for Purkiss, and by October 9, the ODPP had transmitted all required extradition documents to the Office of the Attorney General for forwarding to UK authorities.
Agnes Wanjiru, a 21-year-old mother and freelance hairdresser, went missing on March 31, 2012, after she was last seen at Lions Court Lodge in Nanyuki.
Her body was later found on June 5, 2012, in a septic tank at the same lodge, a discovery that sparked national outrage and renewed calls for justice.
The young mother had left behind her five-month-old daughter, Stacey, on the night she disappeared.
Wanjiru, who worked as a hairdresser and occasionally engaged in sex work to support her child, became the face of a long-running fight for accountability in the case.
Reports indicate Wanjiru had accompanied members of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment to Lions Court Lodge in Nanyuki.
Robert James Purkiss enlisted in 2006 as a medic with the regiment, serving at multiple UK bases and undertaking tours in Afghanistan before being deployed to Kenya with BATUK in 2012 during which Wanjiru died.
Following the arrest warrant in September, a UK government spokesperson offered condolences to Wanjiru’s family and reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to justice.
