Second suspect in Prof. Benneh murder trial is ‘sick’ – Prosecutor
The second accused person in the trial for the murder of university lecturer, Prof. Yaw Benneh, has fallen sick.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Ebenezer Okuffo, told the Kaneshie District Court that the second suspect, Opambour Badu Nkansah, has been admitted at the Police Hospital.
He did not disclose any further details about the suspect’s health. The last time Opambour Nkansah was in court, he did not look well.
The news come after the main suspect, James Nana Womba, was reported dead, days into the start of the trial.
“He fell sick on October 15, 2020, and was rushed to the police hospital and discharged the same day. On October 16, 2020, he fell sick again. The next day, he died while on treatment,” he stated.
Inspector Okuffo also said the prosecution was still awaiting the post-mortem report.
Counsel for James Womba’s family has said it would take a decision on the basis of the autopsy. He would not rule out seeking a second medical opinion on the cause of death of the cleaner.
James Womba was the main suspect who allegedly confessed involvement in the murder of law lecturer, Prof. Yaw Benneh,
He was a domestic worker in the late Prof. Benneh’s mansion at Adijiringanor, close to East Legon in Accra.
James Nana Wamba and Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah had been on remand since late September.
Together, they were charged with unlawful and intentional cause of death and murder.
It was the late cleaner who mentioned Opambour as an accomplice in what is believed to be an inside job in the gruesome murder of the late law professor at his Adjiriganor mansion in Accra on September 10, 2020.
There were no signs of a break-in at the Adjiriganor mansion where the lecturer lived a solitary life.
The Criminal Investigations Department has said the late suspect had a spare key to the mansion.
The police alleged James Nana Wamba had gone into the mansion to steal but not to kill. But when the professor tried to resist them, they fatally assaulted him.
His body was found three days later with a cloth stuffed in his mouth and his hands tied behind his back.
James Nana Womba is said to have taken two mobile phones, GHC450, and the CPU from a desktop computer at the house, which he hid in a septic tank, the CID has said.
“Based on forensic evidence gathered from the crime scene, the cleaner was subjected to further questioning and he broke down and confessed,” the CID Director-General, COP Ken Isaac Yeboah told reporters.