Jury to be panelled on May 30 to hear case involving JB’s killers
The empanelling of a jury for the trial of the two men linked to the murder of a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa-North, Mr J.B. Danquah-Adu, has been rescheduled by the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court to May 30, 2017.
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A jury was expected to be constituted last Tuesday, but the prosecution pleaded with the court for an adjournment to enable it to deal with certain issues.
According to the prosecutor, Chief State Attorney, Ms Sefakor Batsa, there was a new development in the prosecution’s case which needed to be addressed.
She, however, did not inform the court about the new development.
"Under the circumstances, we pray the court to grant an adjournment to enable us to deal with the new issues," she said.
Counsel for the two accused persons (Daniel Asiedu and Vincent Bosso), Mr Muniru Kassim, did not object to the prosecution's request.
The Presiding Judge, Mr Justice Lawrence L. Mensah, after adjourning the trial, explained that a number of dates would be fixed on May 30, 2017, as subsequent dates for the continuation of the trial.
Charges
Asiedu is facing three counts of murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery, while Bosso has been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.
The facts, as presented by the prosecution, are that on February 8, 2016, Asiedu and Bosso decided to embark on a robbery operation at Shiashie, a suburb of East Legon, where the MP resided.
Asiedu selected the MP’s house, but Bosso disagreed and decided to abandon the robbery operation.
About 11:40 p.m., 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, armed with a catapult, a cutter and a sharp knife, went to the legislator’s house. He entered 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. Asiedu also sustained various injuries in his palm and chest.
The legislator fell by his bed, bleeding profusely, after which Asiedu stabbed him several times on the right chest and neck.
On realising that the MP was dying, Asiedu left the room and took with him three iPhones.
Meanwhile, the struggle between the MP and Asiedu drew the attention of the security man in the house who alerted others in the neighbourhood.
Asiedu, however, managed to descend; he jumped over the electric fencing on the walls of the house into an adjoining house and escaped.
Asiedu then took the phones to a phone repairer to decode them, but the repairer saw bloodstains and the pictures of the MP on the phones and alerted the police.