High Court sets December 16 mention in Agnes Wanjiru murder case as UK confirms suspect in custody

Agnes Wanjiru. She went missing in March 2012 in Nanyuki near the BATUK camp. (Photo: Human Rights Watch)

By Lucy Mumbi
Monday, November 24, 2025

ODPP informed the court that they had received official confirmation that Purkiss is being held by British authorities, and that the UK courts will conduct case management proceedings as part of the extradition process.

The High Court has set December 16 for the next mention in the murder case of Agnes Wanjiru, after receiving confirmation that the main suspect, ex-British soldier Robert Purkiss, is in the custody of UK authorities as part of ongoing extradition proceedings.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) informed the court that they had received official confirmation that Purkiss is being held by British authorities, and that the UK courts will conduct case management proceedings as part of the extradition process.

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“We have received updated communication that the suspect is being held by UK authorities. The UK courts will be handling case management on December 9, and we request a mention date after that,” the prosecution said.

High Court judge Alexander Muteti authorised the request, setting the next mention for December 16, 2025, when the ODPP is expected to brief the court on the outcome of the UK proceedings and the next steps in bringing Purkiss to Kenya.

Agnes Wanjiru’s family, through their lawyer, welcomed the update, expressing appreciation for the cooperation between the two governments.

“We appreciate the work being done by both the Kenyan and UK governments in this matter,” the family said, noting that extradition is often a lengthy process requiring patience.

Purkiss, the prime suspect in the case, has maintained his innocence, insisting he never met Wanjiru. He is accused of murdering her in 2012 in Nanyuki. He is currently being held in a remand prison in London after being denied bail while contesting the extradition request.

"I did not kill Agnes Wanjiru. I do not believe I ever met her either. Neither would I joke about killing a woman; that conversation has no basis in reality. I only heard about the incident weeks later when I was on a military exercise in Canada. Only much later was I told a body had been found in a tank,” Purkiss said in a recent interview with the British Daily Mail.

He also denied claims that he and Wanjiru went to a hotel room together on the night she disappeared. Wanjiru’s body was later recovered from a septic tank at Lions Court Hotel in Nanyuki, where she had joined a group of British soldiers for a night of drinking.

"I never booked the hotel room, and can't remember ever being in it. I think we were back in camp by midnight. I was a medic. I have treated people on the battlefield. Agnes was stabbed in the abdomen. She would have lost a lot of blood. If I had killed her and dumped her body, there would have been blood on my clothes and hands. There was none," he added.

Last month, Wanjiru’s niece, Esther Njoki, accompanied by the family’s lawyer Mbiu Kamau, travelled to London to lobby for Purkiss’s arrest and prosecution. During the four-day visit, she met UK Defence Secretary John Healy, who assured her that the British government was committed to supporting the quest for justice. The visit followed a Kenyan court decision in September ordering Purkiss’s extradition.

Two weeks later, Purkiss was arrested in the UK, and extradition proceedings commenced. Wanjiru’s family welcomed the development, saying justice finally seemed within reach.