Crime & Punishment of Sunday, 16 October 2022

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Ebo Quansah the strangler: The serial killer who murdered nine women in Kumasi, Accra

Charles Papa Kwabena Ebo Quansah Charles Papa Kwabena Ebo Quansah

From the killings of some 34 women in Accra and the recent suspected serial killings in Wa, Ghana has experienced some heart-wrenching and fear-stricken serial killings. These acts of inhumanity were perpetrated by some Ghanaians and as time went on some of them were arrested. In the infamous story of the 34 women who were murdered in Accra between 1993 and 2000 in Accra, one name that came up top as being behind most of the killings was Charles "Papa" Kwabena Ebo Quansah, a mechanic who was based in Accra. How did he do it Media reports of the trial of Ebo Quansah indicates that he targeted women at Dansoman, Mataheko and their environs. Most of the victims of Quansah’s serial killings were night traders and he strangled them to death after raping them. Some of the victims were mostly found naked with condoms around their bodies and had their genitals either removed or mutilated. How Ebo Quansah was arrested Ebo Quansah was arrested following police investigations into the murder of his Kumasi-based girlfriend. His girlfriend, Joyce Boateng, was strangled in a similar fashion to the victims in Accra and it was in police custody that Quansah confessed to killing nine of the 34 women who were murdered in Accra. Police and prison record which came to light during the trial revealed that Charles Quansah was jailed at the James Fort prisons for the offence of rape in 1986. After completing his sentence, he committed another rape and was jailed for three years at the Nsawam Prisons in 1987. Quansah was imprisoned again for robbery in 1996 at the Nsawam Medium Prisons in Kumasi, Ghana. After his release that year he relocated to Accra. Quansah’s trial in 2002 On June 11, 2002 the trial of Ebo Quansah begun at the Accra High Court. He stood trial for the murder of nine women in Accra and Kumasi. In August 2002, Ebo Quansah was convicted of murder of nine women and condemned to death by hanging. Quansah cries innocence In September and November 2002, Ebo Quansah filed appeals for his ruling but lost both appeals. A report by the Enquirer on August 8, 2005 alleges that Quansah cried innocence in prison and told prison officers that he is innocent of the crimes he was convicted of. According to report, Quansah told officers that he was coerced through torture by investigators for him to admit killing the nine women. Ebo Quansah is still languishing in prison, serving a life sentence. Watch some GhanaWeb TV programmes below.