Robert James Purkiss, a former British soldier accused of murdering Kenyan woman Agnes Wanjiru in 2012, has publicly denied the allegations, stating he does not believe he ever met her. Purkiss, 38, faces extradition to Kenya over the death of the 21-year-old hairdresser and mother, whose body was discovered in a septic tank at a hotel in Nanyuki, near a British army training camp.
An inquest in 2018 concluded that Wanjiru was murdered by British soldiers. Purkiss, who is being held on remand in a London prison after being refused bail, told the Daily Mail: 'I did not kill Agnes Wanjiru. I do not believe I ever met her either. Neither would I joke about killing a woman.' He claims he only learned of the incident weeks later while on a military exercise in Canada.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard earlier this month that a colleague saw Purkiss crying outside the Lions Court hotel at the time of the alleged murder and heard him say, 'I've killed her.' The court also heard that Purkiss allegedly responded with a 'smiling face emoji' to a social media post referencing the septic tank. Purkiss, who has received Ministry of Defence funding for his defence, 'vehemently denies' the murder.
Purkiss, a former medic, argued that there would have been blood on his clothes if he had killed Wanjiru, who was stabbed in the abdomen. 'There was none,' he said. 'There is no basis in fact to any suggestion I murdered Agnes Wanjiru. I am sorry if that is hard for her family to hear, but it was not me.' He is due to appear in court on Monday for a further bail application.
