A suspect who is said to have been haunted by the ghost of a woman he witnessed being beheaded by her husband has surrendered to the police.
Daniel Kwame Aidoo, 33, claimed to have witnessed the beheading of Esi Brokuwaa by her husband, Simon Larri, 33, but failed to report the matter to the police.
He abandoned his farm at Joma Agbozome, near Ablekuma, where the incident took place, and absconded to Bawjiase, his hometown.
This came to light when the remains of Esi Brokuwaa were exhumed by the police on his farm where she was buried.
The decomposed body was found wrapped with a multi-coloured piece of wax print.
Two other suspects, including Larri, and the owner of the farm, Richard Annanfio, 57, are currently assisting the police, while a fourth suspect, identified only as Buntuman, is currently on the run.
It is suspected that Larri killed his wife and left her in their room on Nkuja Farms where the Vocanga African plants are cultivated and exported by the owner.
The exhumation was witnessed by family members of the deceased and curious residents of the community after the traditional leaders of Joma had performed a traditional rite.
For close to an hour, a team led by the pathologist carefully removed the soil that covered the shallow grave before the body was put in a black body bag and conveyed into a waiting police hearse.
Son speaks
A son of the deceased, Mr Felix Adofo, told the Daily Graphic that in June 2015, he received a phone call from a family friend who lived at Joma that his mother had been killed by his stepfather.
“l had been calling my mother’s phone for sometime but she was not answering. Later, my calls were answered by a man who claimed to be in Tarkoradi in the Western Region.”
He said he quickly arranged to meet the informant who took him to where his mother lived with his stepfather, since he did not know the area.
“When we got there, we found out that the place was vacant, but we found blood stains on a bed in the room where my mother lived with her husband.”
He said a report was filed at the Anyah Police Station and he also informed his external relations.
It was later found out that Larri had gone to Kwahu Praso where his six-year-old son lived with the mother of Esi, purporting to have been sent by Esi to go for the boy.
“When he arrived, my grandmother said it was too late so he should sleep over. So when they heard the news, my stepfather was handed over to the Praso Police the next day.”
Police report
The Anyah District Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Christian Kpodzi, said on June 19, 2015, the police received a report that a man had killed his wife but he had absconded.
He said the complainant also claimed some other persons had buried the woman secretly on the farm near the Densu Lake.
He said investigations established that Larri sent Esi to buy cigarette for him but she returned hours later rather drunk and without the cigarettes.
An angry Larri, he said, assaulted Esi in the presence of a witness and dragged her on the ground towards their room.
He said Larri hacked Esi with a machete and removed a pair of trousers she was wearing and used it to tie her neck, after which he pulled her to the room.
Mr Kpodzi added that the police visited the crime scene and found blood stains on a mattress in the room of the couple but there was no trace of the body.
He said the stained mattress was taken for forensic testing to establish if it was human blood.
On July 2, 2015, the remains of a human body was found a few meters away from the farm and arrangements were made to exhume the body.
Exhumation
A pathologist from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Robert Komodzi, said he had received an exhumation order from the court for the removal of the body and examination after finding the body which was in a superficial grave.
He said the body would be examined to determine whether it was human remains and the cause of death would be established.
Although he could not tell how long the examination could take, he said a final report would later be submitted to the court.
