The late Major Maxwell Mahama
The weapons which were allegedly used by a mob to lynch the late Major Maxwell Mahama at Denkyira-Obuasi have been tendered in evidence by a prosecution witness in the trial of 14 people suspected to have taken part in the gruesome murder case.
The witness, ASP Baffuor Apenteng Nyamekye, a deputy director of operations at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters tendered the items while being led in his evidence in chief by Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State Attorney.
The witness told the court that the items were picked from the crime scene as part of their investigations and they had since preserved them.
The weapons, which included six-inch cement blocks, stones and a metal bar, were tendered in evidence after the witness had identified them.
He also tendered in the pistol of the deceased soldier which was picked from the crime scene by one of the accused persons, Akwasi Boah.
ASP Apenteng, in his evidence in chief, told the court that he was in his office on May 30, 2017, at about 11:00 am when the Director-General of CID informed him that there had been an incident at Denkyira-Obuasi, where a military man had been murdered, so he should lead a team of policemen to conduct investigations into the matter.
He said he took 30 policemen (some in plain clothes) and detectives to the crime scene at Diaso, the District Capital of the Upper Denkyira West around midnight.
“Upon the briefing, I decided to visit the crime scene with my local team and at the scene and upon interrogation, l got to know where the deceased was trapped by some people of Denkyira,” he said.
He said he also saw where the deceased made several attempts to escape but was not successful and was eventually killed by the mob.
He tendered a picture of a Google map of the crime scene which became a bone of contention between the prosecution and the defence lawyers who objected to its authenticity.
After listening to arguments from both sides which lasted for close to 30 minutes, the trial judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, a Court of Appeal judge, admitted the picture in evidence, saying it was not prejudicial to the matter as alleged by the defence lawyers.
The witness said they made a total of 56 arrests including the accused persons but with the advice from the Attorney General’s Department, only 14 were charged.
Mr. Apenteng also told the court that in the course of the investigations, they picked additional information leading to the retrieval of two single shot barrel-guns allegedly used to attack the deceased.
“One was retrieved from the room of one Yaw Amankwah – now at large – and the other from the room of one other person, which was used by Akwasi Asante, an accused person in the case.”
The two shotguns retrieved were tendered in evidence.
Cross-examination
During cross-examination, George Bernard Shaw, lawyer for five of the accused, asked the witness whether the crime scene was cordoned off but the witness answered in the negative. He indicated that the scene was not disturbed. Hearing continues today.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak