A former British soldier has been arrested over the alleged murder of a woman in Kenya in 2012.
Robert James Purkiss was arrested in Tidworth, Wiltshire, on Thursday by specialist officers.
He is accused of murdering 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was found in a septic tank close to a British Army base in the town of Nanyuki, two months after she disappeared in March 2012.
Purkiss, who is wanted by Kenyan authorities, is facing potential extradition to the East African country.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today where he said he does not consent to his extradition.
The court hearing was told that a colleague of Purkiss saw him crying outside the Lions Court Hotel in Nanyuki at the time of the alleged murder, and when asked why he was crying, said: "I’ve killed her."
The court also heard that in 2018, Purkiss had allegedly responded with a "smiling face emoji" after a colleague posted a picture of himself outside the hotel with the comment "if you know you know", while also referencing the septic tank.
An inquest in 2018 concluded Ms Wanjiru was murdered by British soldiers after she was discovered near the army base.
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Robert James Purkiss appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today | PADavid Josse KC, for Purkiss, said the former soldier "vehemently denies" murder and has received Ministry of Defence funding to help pay for his defence.
Home Office barrister Joel Smith KC told the court Purkiss was a soldier who was stationed in Kenya for a six-week training exercise at the time of the alleged murder.
Mr Smith said: "There is evidence that when the soldiers were given time off, they would go into town, drink heavily, and they would pay local women for sex."
He said some of the soldiers left their base and went drinking in the town on the night of March 31, 2012.
"They were drinking heavily. Many of them, including this defendant, ended up in the Lions Court Hotel," Mr Smith said.
He continued to say Ms Wanjiru was last seen leaving the hotel with a soldier.
Mr Smith said: "Ms Wanjiru and two of her friends went into Nanyuki town.
"She had left her baby daughter with a friend, and they ended up at the Lions Court Hotel where they met a number of soldiers.
The body of Agnes Wanjiru was found 'significantly decomposed' in the septic tank close to the British Army base
|PA
"The last time Ms Wanjiru was seen alive, she was leaving the hotel with a soldier.
"As she left, she told a friend in her local language that she was going to ‘hustle for her daughter’."
Mr Smith said Ms Wanjiru’s body was found "significantly decomposed" when it was discovered in the septic tank and a post-mortem examination identified a 2cm stab wound to the lower abdomen and a collapsed lung.
Mr Smith said inquiries had "uncovered confessions" made by Purkiss to fellow soldiers about the incident in Kenya.
The Home Office lawyer said that in the following days, there were "rumours on camp that the defendant had killed someone".
In an alleged confession, Purkiss is said to have told a colleague "it was sex that went wrong".
Mr Smith said Purkiss, who was named as the murder suspect in September, had also allegedly shown a fellow soldier a body in a septic tank.
He told the court: "He then went to show the witness a septic tank, in which was the body of a woman.
"[The soldier] said he returned to the bar and told all the soldiers, but they didn’t believe him because they were drunk.
"Two other soldiers have told military police that they recall [the soldier] mentioning that confession that night."
Mr Smith added that there were also reports of other soldiers who "deny hearing reports of that confession".
Purkiss was remanded into custody and will next appear at the same court via video link on November 14 for a further bail application hearing.