Ebenezer Kwayisi, a mason apprentice charged for abetting the murder of Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh, a law lecturer at the University of Ghana has been jailed 30 years by the High Court in Accra.
Kwayisi, aka, Junior is also to serve his sentence in hard labour after he pleaded guilty after activating Section 239 of Act 30.
The 25-year-old (as at 2020) Mason Apprentice was committed to stand trial for abetment of crime to wit murder following the death of prime suspect James Nana Womba, in Police custody, who was the house boy of the late Prof. Benneh.
But, following from that, the High Court (Criminal Division) presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh convicted him on his own plea and sentenced him to 30 years in hard labour.
EIB Network Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reports that, the initial charge of abetment carried a life sentence if proven.
Professor Benneh was murdered at his residence at Agyriganor in 2020.
The Police had initially held two suspects, namely, Ebenezer Kwayisi and Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah for their involvement in the murder of the law lecturer, following the death of the prime suspect, James Nana Womba, in Police custody, who was the house boy of the late Prof. Benneh.
Akosua Benneh-Akuffo, the complainant, according to the Prosecution, was the niece of the late Prof Benneh, whilst James Nana Womba, the prime suspect, now deceased, was a cleaner in the deceased’s house at Agyiringanor.
About Section 239
1 A plea of guilty, when recorded, shall constitute a conviction.
2Where an accused is arraigned on an indictment for any offence and can lawfully be convicted on the indictment of some other offence not charged in the indictment, he may plead “not guilty” of the offence charged in the indictment but “guilty” of the other offence, and upon the plea of guilty the Court may, with the consent of the prosecution, acquit the accused of the offence with which he is charged and record the plea of guilty to the other offence.
Background
The Prosecution said Womba’s accomplice, Ebenezer Kwayisi, was a mason apprentice, residing at Kasoa.
It said, on September 12, 2020, at about 0800 hours, the deceased was found lying dead in a pool of blood in a corridor leading to his bedroom.
Prosecution said the deceased was lying in prone position with his hands tied behind him with a white rope and his legs also tied with a green rope just below the knees.
The prosecution said examination on the body of the victim revealed multiple marks of assault on the face, with a cloth partly inserted in his mouth.
The facts state that, the Police found on the scene a hand glove, a white rope with blood stains and blood stains on the walls.
The prosecution said, Police Crime Scene Management Team examined the scene and lifted a visible blood tainted thumb impression on the wall close to where the victim’s body laid.
Prosecution said on September 21, 2020, a post mortem examination was conducted on the deceased’s body and the pathologist gave the immediate cause of death as, “Asphyxiation, Strangulation and suspected homicide.”
It said, on September 13, 2020, James Nana Womba, now deceased, was arrested for investigation and his finger prints taken and sent to Finger Print Section of CID Headquarters for examination.
The prosecution said the result from the headquarters indicated the fingerprints captured at the crime scene were identical to that of Womba.
Womba, according to the Prosecution, confessed to the crime during investigations and mentioned Nkansah and Kwayisi as his accomplices who were later arrested.
It said investigations revealed that during the month of August 2020, Womba contacted his accomplices and hatched a plan to murder the victim in his house, so he recruited a gang to execute the plan.
The Prosecution said two weeks later, the deceased, Womba had a change of mind and contacted Kwayisi to assist him execute the plan.
The Prosecution told the Court that Kwayisi agreed and visited Womba and both discussed in detail how the act was going to be carried out and on September 10, 2020, the accused persons allegedly went to the victim’s house and executed their plan by killing the Professor.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Murtala Inusah/Rosemary Davies
