The Criminal Court 1 of the Accra High Court has sentenced Richard Appiah, a former footballer accused of gruesomely killing two teenagers at Abesim to life imprisonment.
The sentence follows a unanimous guilty verdict returned by a seven-member jury in the trial of the former footballer, who was found to have killed two teenagers at Abesim in the Bono Region and stored the remains of one of them in a refrigerator.
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Appiah, who was 28 at the time of the crime, had been standing trial since 2022 before the court presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey.
The case stems from the killing of 12-year-old Louis Agyemang Jnr and 15-year-old Stephen Sarpong in August 2021 at Abesim near Sunyani.
Prosecution evidence indicated that the victims’ bodies were discovered in a locked room in the accused’s residence.
One of the bodies was found lying in the room, while the other was retrieved from a refrigerator in the house.
A pathologist informed the court that one of the victims died from strangulation, while the other died from severe blood loss.
During the trial, the accused admitted causing the deaths but raised a defence of insanity. The defence argued that he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the incident and did not appreciate the nature or wrongfulness of his actions.
The court was told that the accused was referred for psychiatric evaluation and was at a point declared unfit to stand trial before later being deemed fit to continue proceedings.
The prosecution, however, maintained that the accused acted with intent, pointing to evidence that he concealed the bodies, attempted to destroy evidence and participated in search efforts.
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Five witnesses were called by the prosecution, while the accused testified in his own defence and presented one additional witness; his father.
The accused was a former player of Okumapem FC.
MAG/AE
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