Court adjourns murder case; Following bizarre behaviour by suspect

A bizarre behaviour displayed by one of the suspects in the murder of the two Americans at Akwamufie in the Eastern Region, compelled the Accra District Court to adjourn the case to June 8, next month.

The court, presided by Ms Veronique Manfort, further directed the prosecution to send the suspect to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital for examination.

Obiri Yeboah, who is a farmer and fetish priest, was seen murmuring and looking restless when he appeared before the court on May 14 this month.

Yeboah and five others namely Anokye Yaw Frimpong, a driver; Nana Appia-Nti III, a mechanic; Brenda Kareema Mohammed, a pensioner, and her son, Yazid Alazim Mohammed, a businessman; and Mensah Kamaugogo Muata, a surgeon assistant, are facing two counts of conspiracy and murder.

Their pleas have not been taken.

Docket 

According to the prosecutor, Superintendent Francis Baah, the docket on the case had been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s office for advice.

Confession

On May 14, this month, Frimpong confessed in open court that he had single-handedly murdered the two victims.

He claimed to have committed the crime without the knowledge of the other five accused persons.

The accused, who was determined to give further details, was asked by the court to hold on until the police had completed their investigations into the murder.

Background

According to the prosecution, the deceased persons – Mamelina Diop, 75, and Nzinga Jaana, 69 – were pensioners from the American Civil Service but resided at Fihankra, near Akwamufie in the Eastern Region.

He said while Nana Appia-Nti lived at Atimpoku, the other accused persons lived at Fihankra.

In 1997, some African Americans in the Diaspora decided to make Ghana their home and therefore acquired 218.5 acres of land at Appiakrom where they created a community now called Fihankra.

Agreement

“In the agreement governing the purchase of the land, the group promised to build schools, a hospital and a stadium, provide potable water and bring other amenities to the community,” the prosecution said.

It said the leader of the group, Oluwale Kwadwo Akpan, who had made himself a traditional ruler of the area, started issuing indentures and collected annual rent for the land allocated to the residents of Fihankra.

After his death in May 2009, his wife, Majewa Adoujokroke Akpan; his son, Goloi Osakwe Dwemena Akpan, and the two murdered African American women took over the management of the fund.

Revolt

However, Kareema Mohammed, Alazim Mohammed and Muata revolted against that arrangement and accused the Akpan Family and the two African-American women of fraud and mismanagement. 

The disagreement later degenerated into personal confrontations thus severing the cordial relationship between them and the two African-American groups. The latter’s lives were later threatened by the accused persons.

Murder

On May 5, this year, Mamelina and Jaana were reported missing.

A search, however, led to the discovery of a freshly dug grave the next day. An order was subsequently obtained from the Akosombo District Court for the exhumation of the bodies.

“The bodies of the deceased persons, which were found buried in a shallow grave, were removed and deposited at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital morgue, pending autopsy,” the prosecution said.

Investigations led to the arrest of the accused persons.