Richard Appiah
Richard Appiah, the 31-year-old draftsman who killed two boys and kept their body parts in a refrigerator at Alaska, a suburb of Abesim near Sunyani in the Bono Region, has been sentenced to life impertinent after a seven-member jury found him guilty of two counts of murder.
The convict was hauled before the court in 2024 following the gruesome murder of Louis Agyemang Jr.; his step brother and Stephen Sarpong.
The convict was before the court over the gruesome murder of two young boys whose body parts were found in his refrigerator.
The convict had admitted the offence from the beginning. What was in contention was whether he intended the crime.
The defence led by Faustinus Yorilabuo contended that the convict was insane and did not know the magnitude of what he did because he was suffering from paranoia schizophrenia at the time of committing the offence.
However, the prosecution, led by Nana Ama Adinkrah, a Senior State Attorney, argued that the convict knew exactly what he was doing, especially when he took steps to cover his tracks after the heinous crime.
A seven member jury after less than 20 minutes of deliberation returned a unanimous verdict of guilty on two counts of murder.
Justice Ruby Aryeetey, the presiding judge subsequently sentenced Richard Appiah to life imprisonment.
Richard Appiah was a friend to the victims who have been identified as 15-year-old Stephen Sarpong who was in JHS 2, the suspect’s own 12-year-old step-brother Louis Agyemang.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak