Crime & Punishment of Thursday, 10 February 2005

Source: GNA

Court remands student in prison custody

Agona (Ash), Feb 10, GNA - Nicholas James Kwame Asenso, the 21-year-old student of Adu-Gyamfi Secondary School at Jamasi, who murdered his step-mother's sister, told the police that he was driven by the desire to avenge the break-up in the marriage between his father and mother.

Police Chief Inspector J.C.K. Ammisah, told the Agona magistrate court on Friday when Asenso was arraigned on a charge of murder. His plea was not taken and was remanded in prison custody to re-appear on February 18.

The prosecutor told the court, presided over by Mr Richard Asiedu Badu that during interrogation, the accused said ever since the break-up of his parent's marriage leading to the marriage of the deceased's sister, he had been finding avenues for revenge.

That was why the prosecutor told the court Asenso woke the deceased up at that hour of the night and following a slight misunderstanding killed her.

Inspector Ammisah said Asenso and the deceased, Grace Nyarko, a citizen of Bedomase near Agona and a teacher at the Tabre-Nkwanta

Local Authority Experimental Junior Secondary school, lived at Jamasi. He said because of the closeness of their relationship, at about 0100 hrs on January 31, this year, the accused went and knocked at the door of the deceased and when she opened it, Asenso told her that he was hungry and needed some food to eat.

Inspector Amissah said the deceased told him that she could not get him food at that time of the night but this did not go down well with Asenso, which resulted in a misunderstanding between them during which the accused took a bread knife from a nearby table and stabbed her on the right rib beneath her breast.

He said the screams of the deceased aroused the landlord and other tenants who rushed to the scene and as they could not open the door, they forced it open and found the deceased lying in a pool of blood while Asenso was found hiding in a corner of the room.

Inspector Ammisah said a report was made to the Jamasi police who arrested him and during interrogation told the police that he was driven by the desire to avenge the break-up in the marriage between his father and mother to commit the crime.