A Kumasi high court, presided over by Justice Paul K. Richardson, has ordered a Togolese to die by hanging for murdering a colleague farmer.

Kwabena Sododzi, alias “Kotoku”, 44, attacked and butchered Kwame Sakyi to death at a farmstead near Akrofuom in the Adansi South District, without provocation.

He pleaded not guilty to the crime but the jury returned with a guilty verdict. A State Attorney, Cecilia Animah Peprah, told the court that the crime was committed on the night of May 28, 2011.

Sododzi and Sakyi were both farmers and enjoyed warm relations, to the extent that there were even times when the convict went to the deceased to be helped out with some food items.

She said on the day of the incident,the victim had just finished his evening meal after returning from Akrofuom and asked his wife, Afua Bronya, to fetch water for him to bathe.

Moments after the woman left, Sododzi,who had been hiding in the darkness, emerged and began slashing him with a cutlass.

His shrill cry attracted the attention of Bronya and, as she run to his aid amid shouts for help, she was also struck in the head by the convict, resulting in a deep cut.

She lost consciousness, dropped to the ground, and was rushed to the Akrofuom Health Centre, where she was transferred to the Obuasi Government Hospital and admitted for many days.

The convict later ran to another neighbour’s residence and inflicted cutlass wounds on him.

The State Attorney said the blood stained cutlass he used to commit the heinous crime was retrieved from his room after his arrest by the police. Sododzi told the court that he did not know what came over him.