The two teenagers standing trial for the killing of a ten-year-old in Kasoa have been found guilty of counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
The two committed the offence in 2021 and have since been on trial.
It has taken three years since the gory incident for the High Court to conclude the trial and return a verdict.
The second accused, Nicholas Kini, who was 18 years old at the time of the incident, has been sentenced to life in prison.
The first accused, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, has, however, been sent to the juvenile court for sentencing because the High Court does not have the authority to sentence him.
Facts of the case
According to testimony from investigators, the first accused admitted during interrogation that the idea to kill the deceased came after he chanced on a video of a spiritualist who promised to help people make money by depositing GH¢5,000.
In furtherance of this, he is said to have confessed that he contacted the second accused, Nicholas Kini, who suggested they place a call on the fetish priest.
The fetish priest is said to have demanded the GH¢5000 and human blood.
According to the first accused, the second accused thus recommended the killing of the deceased in fulfilment of the request.
The plan, however, was to first kidnap him and demand GH¢5,000 as ransom from his parents.
The deceased is then said to have been lured by the first accused to the uncompleted building under the pretext that he had bought him a game.
Upon asking the deceased to pick up the game, he was first struck on the head with a stick and later struck with cement blocks when he pleaded for mercy.
The deceased was then buried alive as the pathologist explained that the cause of death was failure to breathe.
Prosecutions case
The prosecution called its first witness in March 2023 and called seven witnesses in all.
The seven witnesses are the father of deceased Ishmael Abdallah, the father of the first accused, his mother and sister. The state also called three police officers as witnesses, including the detective who handled the case and the pathologist at the Police Hospital who handled the post-mortem.
In helping the prosecution build its case, the father of the deceased testified that he had returned from a work trip the morning before the incident. Shortly after he had breakfast with the family, including the deceased, he took a nap. His nap was, however, cut short by screams of his wife announcing the death of his son.
He confirmed finding the body of his son at an uncompleted building opposite the house of the first accused.
The sister of the first accused testified that she saw his brother, and the second accused, Nicholas Kini, at the uncompleted building when she went to urinate but was sacked by the first accused.
Being suspicious, she informed her mother, who later notified the first accused‘s father.
Father of the first accused, Richard Mensah, testified that he uncovered the body of the accused in the uncompleted building.
He further revealed in court that his son confessed to killing Ishmael together with Nicholas Kini.
The police also testified that the second accused at the police station also confessed to striking the head of the deceased with a club.
Case of Accused Persons
The first accused person, who was 15 at the time of the offence in his defence, admitted to killing Ishmael Abdallah together with the second accused.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy and not guilty to the charge of murder.
The second accused, on the other hand, who was 18 at the time of the alleged offence, denied involvement and pleaded not guilty to both offences of conspiracy and murder.
He accused the first accused of setting him up and explained that he was not at the scene of the crime.
He listed his grandfather as an Alibi but the judge, in her summing up the case to the jury, noted that there was no evidence to prove that his grandfather could corroborate his claims that he was with him and not at the crime scene.
Final Address to the Jury
The state ahead of jury deliberations urged the jury to find the two guilty, as the evidence submitted proves the guilt of the two for both murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Their lawyers, however, prayed to the court to find their clients not guilty.
Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, in summing up the case, urged the jury to uphold the conscience of the nation.
The seven-member jury, after deliberations, returned a guilty verdict for both.