Kenya has issued an arrest warrant for a British national suspected of murdering 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru. She disappeared on March 31, 2012, in her hometown of Nanyuki, where British troops were stationed. She was last seen at the Lion’s Court Hotel in the company of soldiers. For months, relatives and friends searched for her until her body was found in a hotel septic tank. Wanjiru worked as a hairdresser, occasionally engaged in sex work, and left behind a five-month-old daughter, Stacy.
A Kenyan court has issued an arrest warrant for a British citizen suspected of killing 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru, whose body was discovered in 2012 in a septic tank at a hotel near a British military base.
The decision was issued by High Court judge Alexander Muteti. Prosecutors said the suspect has already been charged with murder and that the warrant is needed to secure his extradition to Kenya. Witnesses based in the United Kingdom are expected to testify at the trial.
Wanjiru, a hairdresser by profession who sometimes engaged in sex work to earn extra income, was last seen on March 31, 2012, at the bar of the Lion’s Court Hotel in Nanyuki, her hometown 200 kilometers from Nairobi. She was in the company of British soldiers stationed with the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK). After her disappearance, relatives and friends searched for months until her body was discovered in the hotel’s septic tank. Wanjiru left behind a five-month-old daughter named Stacy.
If extradition goes ahead, it would mark the first time a serving or former British soldier has been handed over to another country to stand trial for the murder of a civilian. Wanjiru’s death had previously been the subject of two official inquiries and several criminal investigations.
In 2021, the Sunday Times conducted its own investigation, during which several soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment identified the suspect by name. Since then, Kenyan investigators have traveled to the United Kingdom multiple times to question serving and former soldiers who were stationed in Nanyuki at the time of the crime.
In April of this year, UK Defence Secretary John Healey met with the victim’s family in Kenya and pledged full support for the investigation. “In the 13 years since her death, the family has shown incredible resilience in the pursuit of justice. I reaffirmed my determination to see this unresolved case brought to a conclusion,” he said.
Wanjiru’s relatives previously stated: “Agnes’s death has had a profound and devastating impact on our family. It was not only the shock of losing a loved one at such a young age, but also the horrific circumstances in which her body was found, and the ordeals we have endured in the fight for truth and accountability for her death.”
The exact date of the extradition hearings has yet to be set. The next court session in Kenya is scheduled for October 21.