Former British soldier facing extradition over Agnes Wanjiru murder denies knowing victim
Robert James Purkiss, 28, said he only learned of her death weeks later while on a military exercise in Canada and insisted he had never met the 21-year-old.
A former British soldier facing extradition over the alleged murder of Agnes Wanjiru in Nanyuki has denied the charges, telling authorities he had no recollection of ever being at the hotel where she disappeared.
Robert James Purkiss, 28, said he only learned of her death weeks later while on a military exercise in Canada and insisted he had never met the 21-year-old.
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Purkiss is accused of stabbing Wanjiru and dumping her body in a septic tank at the Lions Court hotel near a British army training base in 2012. Wanjiru, a hairdresser and mother to the then five-month-old, was last seen leaving the hotel with a soldier. An inquest in 2018 concluded that she had been murdered by British soldiers.
At a Westminster magistrates court hearing earlier this month, Purkiss “vehemently denied” the murder and received Ministry of Defence funding to cover his defence costs. The court heard that a colleague allegedly saw Purkiss crying outside the hotel around the time of the incident and reportedly said, “I’ve killed her.”
Another allegation suggested he reacted with a “smiling face emoji” in 2018 after a colleague posted a reference to the hotel and septic tank online.
Speaking to the Daily Mail from a London prison where he is held on remand, Purkiss rejected all accusations.
“I did not kill Agnes Wanjiru. I do not believe I ever met her either. Neither would I joke about killing a woman,” he said.
“I only heard about the incident weeks later when I was on a military exercise in Canada. Only much later than that was I told a body had been found in a tank. I never booked the hotel room, can’t remember ever being in it. I think we were back in camp by midnight.”
He also pointed to his medical training, adding, “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. 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.”
Purkiss, who is married with two children and now runs an IT company, faces extradition to Kenya following a court order in September. The case is largely based on testimony from another former soldier, Liam Hendry, who alleged that Purkiss showed him the body. Hendry has since struggled with drug addiction and has multiple shoplifting convictions.
Purkiss also dismissed claims that he boasted to colleagues about killing Wanjiru, describing the allegations as baseless.
“There was none,” he said.
His wife, Kelly, defended him, telling the Daily Mail, “I know my husband and he would not have killed her or slept with her.”
Wanjiru’s family welcomed his arrest, noting that it was the beginning of justice.
“We have waited so many years for this moment,” her niece, Esther Njoki, said.
At the time of her disappearance, Wanjiru was reportedly working as a sex worker near the military base.
Purkiss is currently held in a London prison after a magistrate denied him bail earlier this month. He will appear at Westminster magistrates' court on Monday for a further bail application.
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