Robert James Purkiss, a former British soldier, is accused of the 2012 murder of Agnes Wanjiru, a 21-year-old Kenyan woman whose body was found in a septic tank. Purkiss appeared in a London court, refusing extradition to Kenya, where he is wanted for the alleged murder.
Kenyan prosecutors claim Purkiss confessed to a colleague that "it was sex that went wrong" and that he responded with a "smiling face emoji" to a social media post referencing the septic tank. Purkiss, however, publicly denies the accusations, stating he did not kill Agnes Wanjiru and does not believe he ever met her.
He claims he only learned of the incident weeks later while on a military exercise in Canada, and that he never booked the hotel room associated with the case and was back at camp by midnight. His legal representation stated he vehemently denies murder and is receiving Ministry of Defence funding for his defense.
An inquest in 2018 concluded that Ms. Wanjiru was murdered by British soldiers.
Purkiss is currently in custody pending a bail hearing.
