Piece by: Star Writer

25 October 2021

A decade long murder of a 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru, from Majengo estate in Nanyuki has hit the headlines and the killer, a British soldier has been exposed.

In an expose on the UK paper, The Sunday Times, former British Army Training Unit in Kenya (Batuk) soldiers detailed the occurrences of the fateful night.

The expose revealed that the identity of the British soldier who allegedly stabbed a Wanjiru, before dumping her body in a hotel septic tank after a night of partying, is widely known in the army.

The naked body of Wanjiru, 21, was found at the Lions Court Inn Hotel in Nanyuki, nearly a decade ago, by a maintenance worker who noticed a foul smell.

But following an investigation by The Sunday Times, soldiers who took part in the drunken night of group sex with local prostitutes, said they were shown Agnes's body that evening by her alleged killer, named by the paper as Soldier X.

Another soldier from the Duke of Lancaster regiment, identified as Soldier Y, said:

"He took me to the tank and lifted it up, and I looked in and I just remember seeing her in there. My heart sank. My mind just went blank. The only thing I could say to him was: 'I'll never forgive you for this.'"

But another soldier from the regiment, soldier Z, claims Soldier X told colleagues he had killed her by accident in a sex game.

“[His story was that] he’d been having sex with her and he’d choked her and she’d died,” Soldier Z said as reported by the Sunday Times.

When asked why he thought no action had been taken against Soldier X, the source said: “In the army, there is a certain code. You keep your mouth shut. There are some unwritten rules. Stuff does get covered up, you protect your own.”

But when contacted for comment, soldier X denied any involvement in the murder of Wanjiru.

“Honestly, I’m not surprised because there were rumours in my battalion. If you speak to people in my battalion they’ll say that,” he said as reported by The Sunday Times.

“But it’s a rumour. There was a rumour going around for a long time, which actually was borderline bullying. But there’s nothing you can do when you’re in the military. There’s a lot of idiots, but there’s no real truth in it.” He said he did not report this alleged bullying.

When asked whether he could remember being at the hotel that night, he asked he be allowed to contact his lawyer.

He described many of those he served with as “lads off a council estate”, adding: “Honestly, I think I’m from a different walk of life. Joining the army for me was an eye-opener, I’d never experienced people like that.”

The Foreign Office and British high commission in Nairobi, the directorate of criminal investigations and attorney-general in Kenya and the Lions Court Hotel did not respond to questions.