A FORMER British soldier accused of killing a Kenyan mum allegedly told his colleague that the murder was “sex that went wrong”.
Robert James Purkiss, 38, has appeared in a London court after being arrested in connection with the alleged murder of Agnes Wanjiru.
Wanjiru was found in a septic tank at the Lion’s Court Hotel in the Kenyan town of Nanyuki in 2012, having last been seen at the hotel with a group of British soldiers.
The hotel was popular with British soldiers based at an army training camp in Nanyuki, 125 miles north of the capital, Nairobi.
The single mother of a then four-month-old baby was beaten and stabbed, and was probably still alive when she was thrown into the septic tank, a magistrate said in the 2019 inquest report.
In September, Kenya made a formal request to extradite a suspect.
Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said the suspect was Purkiss, who was arrested on Thursday by specialist officers after the warrant was issued.
Mr Purkiss, 38, told the court he intended to contest the extradition and was remanded into custody ahead of his next appearance at the same court on 14 November.
His lawyers told the court that he “vehemently denies” murder.
Prosecutor Joel Smith said that British soldiers on leave had been drinking heavily on March 31, 2012, at a hotel where they were known to pay local women for sex.
He told the court that Wanjiru was last seen alive on the night of March 31, 2012, when she left a hotel in Nanyuki with a soldier.
She was reported missing on April 2, and her body was found “significantly decomposed” on June 5.
Smith said a post-mortem examination identified a stab wound to the lower abdomen and a collapsed lung.
He told the court that colleagues of the accused had told military police in Kenya that Purkiss had confessed to killing Wanjiru and even joked about her death on Facebook messages.
One soldier, who had been drinking that night, said he saw Purkiss crying, the prosecutor told the court.
When he was asked why, the defendant said “I’ve killed her”, Smith said.
Smith said Purkiss told another colleague that it was sex that went wrong, and led a soldier to the septic tank to view the body.
Defence lawyer David Josse said Purkiss, who is self-employed and works from the home he shares with his wife and two children, vehemently denies the murder charge.
Purkiss did not enter a plea but shook his head as the prosecutor described the evidence against him.
He was remanded into custody and will next appear at the same court via video link on November 14 for a further bail application hearing.
He will become the first British serviceman ever to be extradited to a foreign country for the murder of a civilian if the case proceeds.
Esther Njoki, the spokesperson for Agnes Wanjiru’s family said: “We are happy that finally, after a long wait and frustration, the government has begun to act, although it has taken a long time.
“We have a ray of hope that now the family will be served justice.”
