Daniel Asiedu, the man arrested for the murder of Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North, J. B. Danquah, has denied killing the former MP in court.
Asiedu made the statement in Court Wednesday at the start of his trial at the High Court in Accra.
He claims that he was lured by his in-law to the Accra Regional Police Command where he was arrested for killing the former lawmaker in February last year.
Asiedu’s denial is contrary to earlier claims that he confessed to the killing of the late MP when he was first arrested.
Asiedu was arrested on Thursday, February 11, 2016, in a special operation led by then Accra Regional Police Commander, Commissioner of Police (COP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare.
Upon his arrest, three mobile phones, two of which were believed to belong to the late MP, were retrieved from him.
Facts of the Case
The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecution, were that the MP, Mr Danquah-Adu, lived with his family in a one-storey house at Shiashie, near East Legon, in Accra, while Asiedu and Bosso lived at Agbogbloshie, also in Accra.
About 11:40 p.m. on February 8, 2016, the MP arrived home and went to bed in a room located on the first floor of his house.
About 1 a.m. that same night, Asiedu and Bosso, armed with a catapult, a cutter and a sharp knife, went to the legislator’s house.
Bosso is said to have assisted Asiedu to enter the house by scaling the wall on the blind side of a security man who was fast asleep. On entering the house, Asiedu climbed onto a porch on the top floor with a ladder and entered the MP’s bedroom through a window.
While Asiedu was searching the room, the MP woke up and held him. There ensued a struggle, during which Asiedu stabbed the MP in the right chest above the breast. The MP consequently held the knife, and Asiedu pulled it through the MP’s hand, making a deep cut in his palm.
The legislator, who bled profusely, fell by his bed, after which Asiedu stabbed him several times on his right chest and neck.
On realizing that the MP was dying, Asiedu left the room and took with him three iPhones.
Meanwhile, the struggle between the MP and Asiedu had drawn the attention of the security man in the house, who alerted other security men in the neighbourhood.
Having realised the impending danger, Bosso took to his heels, leaving Asiedu behind. However, Asiedu managed to descend from the top of the house and jumped over the electric fencing on the walls of the house into an adjoining house and escaped.
