Man in court for murdering boy

The 35-year-old farm labourer suspected of beheading an eight-year-old primary schoolboy at Bechem in the Brong Ahafo Region has been remanded in prison custody by the Sunyani Magistrate Court "B", presided over by Mr Albert Zoogah.

The accused, Thomas Kwame Amponsah, was alleged to have beheaded Emmanuel Adjei on November 4, 2007 and offered the severed head for sale at Sefwi Dadieso in the Western Region. His plea was not taken by the court and he is to appear again on November 26, 2007.

When information about Amponsah's appearance in court got to town, people flocked into the courtroom, while others, who did not get seating places inside the courtroom peeped through the windows to catch a glimpse of him.

Amponsah, who had no counsel, bowed his head when the interpreter translated into Akan the charge of murder preferred against him and each time the facts were read out by the prosecution.

Inspector Gilbert Adeyugah, who presented the facts of the case, also tendered in evidence the machete which Amponsah used to behead the boy and pictures of the crime scene.

He told the court that Amponsah was a farmer residing at Bechem, while Adjei, popularly known as Koo Emma, lived with his parents, opposite Amponsah's house.

Inspector Adeyugah said in June this year, Amponsah went to Sefwi Dadieso in the Western Region where he met one Yaro, with whom he struck a deal to supply a human head for ¢120 million.

He disclosed that with that promise, Amponsah went back to Bechem and befriended Koo Emma, adding that during their friendship, the two did everything in common.

Inspector Adeyugah said early in the morning of November 4, 2007, Amponsah saw Koo Emma playing with other children at the Bechem Roman Catholic Park and beckoned him to come.

He stated that Amponsah was armed with a sharp machete, a club, a black plastic bag and a piece of cloth and he took Koo Emma to the outskirts of the town where he hit him with the club.

Koo Emma fell and Amponsah carried him to a thicket where he cut off his head.

Inspector Adeyugah disclosed further that after cutting off the - head, Amponsah parceled it into the black plastic bag, covered Koo Emma's body with palm branches and set off for Sefwi Dadieso.

He told the court that the accused arrived at Dadieso on November 5, 2007 and contacted a man (name withheld), now a witness in the case, in his bid to trace Yaro.

He said Amponsah confided in the witness and told him about his mission, upon which the man feigned interest in the deal.

Inspector Adeyugah said the man immediately informed some members of the Dadieso Community Protection Unit and with the help of members of the unit committee, Amponsah was arrested and handed over to the police at Tarkwa in the Western Region.

He told the court that Amponsah was transferred to the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Headquarters in Sunyani, together with the exhibit (the human head) and that after investigations he was arraigned on a charge of murder.

Inspector Adeyugah informed the court that the police were conducting further investigations into the case and, therefore, pleaded with the court to remand the accused for two weeks, an appeal which was granted by the court.