A High Court in Accra would on March 14, 2024 commence the trial of Richard Appiah, a footballer who killed two boys and kept their body parts in a refrigerator at Alaska, a suburb of Abesim near Sunyani in the Bono Region.
This followed the completion of case management conference by the court together with prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General and the defence team representing the accused.
Appiah has been charged with two counts of murder in relation to the gruesome murder of 15-year-old Stephen Boateng, who was in JHS 2, and the suspect’s own 12-year-old step-brother Louis Agyemang.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was remanded into custody by the court presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey pending the trial.
The Attorney General recommended that the accused be charged with the murder of the minors after he was passed fit to stand trial, having undergone medical treatment after a mental episode.
The court has already panelled a seven-member jury which would be hearing the case and return a verdict based on the evidence presented at trial.
The prosecution has so far filed the witness statement of five witnesses which they intend to rely on to prove the guilt of the accused person.
Nana Ama Adinkra, a Senior State Attorney at Office of the Attorney General, yesterday sought leave of the court to file a further witness statement of Thomas Agyei, the father of Louis Agyemang Jnr (one of the victims).
She also told the court that the prosecution would be relying on documents listed in the summary of evidence attached to the Bill of Indictment filed on May 31, 2023.
These include investigations caution statements and further investigations caution statements of the accused person dated August 21, 2021, August 23, 2021 and September 10, 2021, respectively.
The prosecution will also be relying on the autopsy reports of Stephen Sarpong and Louis Agyemang Jnr dated December 16, 2022 and May 25, 2023 respectively.
Madam Adinkra also indicated that they will be relying on photographs of the body parts of Stephen Sarpong, partially burnt clothes, slippers and photographs of the victim’s clothes.
Other exhibits include photographs of a double door fridge of the accused containing body parts of deceased Stephen Sarpong and a charge statement of accused dated November 10, 2022.
Murder
He is believed to have been cooking for the victims and showing them some affection, and through that supposed kindness, he was able to lure them and subsequently kill them in turns.
The Abesim ‘cannibal’ is said to be a man who hardly smiles, and per police records, four persons are said to have gone missing in the neighbourhood where he lives.
This led to a heightened suspicion that he could be behind the strange disappearances.
He is said to have initially denied knowledge of the whereabouts of Louis Agyemang, the boy who went missing.
The police discovered the intestines of the victims buried on a cocoa farm.
A police statement indicated that, “The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters team investigating the Abesim murder case has yesterday, Tuesday, August 24, 2021, discovered a place where suspect Richard Appiah buried the intestines of one of the murder victims.”
The statement, signed by ACP Kwesi Ofori, acting Director-General, Public Affairs, explained further how the police also found a sharp cutlass used in the murder, as well as where the body parts were buried.
“The intestines were buried on a cocoa farm at Abesim, which the police have since exhumed for pathological analysis and forensic examination in Accra,” the statement pointed out.
The investigation team has also worked around a septic tank and other places of concern for further examinations, the statement said.
