A 46-year-old teacher, Isaac Bannor, who was scheduled to travel to Belgium for a Master's programme on Saturday, was killed at dawn yesterday and his body dismembered on a compound at Kronom, a suburb of Kumasi.

The suspect in the gruesome act is Francis Owusu Frimpong, a 25-year-old step-son of the deceased, described by family members as a drug addict, who was recently discharged from the Ankaful Mental Hospital.

The late Bannor, who was a leading member of the Deeper Life Bible Church and a teacher at the Aduman Senior High School, had met the family the previous night to discuss his scheduled flight to Belgium on Saturday, to pursue a Master's degree programme at the Antwerp University, family sources told Daily Graphic.

Pastor Owusu Fordjour, who spoke on behalf of the family, said after the discussions and preparation for the pending trip, the family retired to bed, but about 3 a.m. yesterday (Thursday), they were woken up by persistent banging on the iron gate of the house.

He said when it was discovered that it was the suspect who was making the noise from outside the gate, Mr Bannor went out and opened the gate but just then, the suspect hit him with a heavy stick causing him to fall down.

He then used a sharp machete he was wielding to wage a savage attack on him, cutting him on all parts of the body.

Pastor Fordjour said some minutes later Mrs Bannor, who did not know why her husband had kept that long, came out only to see the butchered body at the gate.

He said Mrs Bannor was horrified by the severely mutilated body and, therefore, started wailing to attract other members of the family.

He said other members of the community were attracted to the scene and saw the body with parts chopped off.

The police later retrieved a severed leg from the gutter hours after they had taken the main body to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Other family sources told Daily Graphic that the suspect was a school dropout with many years of addiction to marijuana.

One said he had known the suspect since he was 19, adding that "even at that age, he was known to be addicted to Indian hemp".

He said efforts by the family to prevail on him to stop smoking Indian hemp proved futile, a situation which was suspected to have led to his mental derangement.

Another neighbour said about four days earlier, the suspect developed a penchant for slaughtering chicken in the neighbourhood, and his parents, who were disturbed about his action, tried in vain to prevail upon him to stop, and it got worse as he attacked and killed any fowl he encountered.

The Suame District Crime Officer, DSP Kwaku Duah, who confirmed the incident, said y the police had launched an investigation into the incident.

He also confirmed that the suspect was a g known mental patient who was admitted to the Ankaful Hospital about two years ago and was only discharged recently.

He said the suspect was known to the police because of the problems he had been creating at home, and in most cases, it was the deceased who was able to contain him.

The late Bannor left behind four children - two boys and two girls.