The suspects
Three suspected armed robbers who allegedly killed a car dealer at Tema Community 9 have been remanded by the Kaneshie Magistrate Court.
The accused persons, namely Benjamin Essel, (A1) 29 years, Latif Nashiru, (A2) 24 years, and Michael Tetteh, aka James Osei (A3) 22 years, are facing two counts including murder and robbery.
According to the court, the accused persons, together with two others (A4 and A5, currently at large) attempted to rob the deceased person, identified as James Tetteh Laweh, aged 33, of his Toyota RAV4 vehicle, and in the process, shot him in the neck at close range at Tema Community 22 on April 25, 2022.
They were later arrested by the Anti Armed Robbery Unit at Amasaman while on their way to another operation May 2, 2022.
The court, presided over by Oheneba Kuffour, remanded them into police custody to reappear on June 2, 2022, for their pleas to be taken.
The case is being investigated by Detective Inspector Alex Ameyaw.
Facts
Prosecuting, Inspector Margaret Ofori Boadi said the complainant, who doubles as a witness in the case, is Samuel Ankomah, a foreman and a friend to the deceased, while Felix Tetteh Batse, is a brother to the deceased person and owner of the vehicle being offered for sale.
She said on February 18, 2022, Felix Tetteh Batse received a caller with a mobile phone number 0548332419, who identified himself as a medical doctor with Tema Polyclinic and expressed interest in purchasing his unregistered Toyota RAV4.
She said the two parties then arranged that the vehicle be sent to the polyclinic, where the caller claims he works, for inspection.
The prosecutor said Felix Batse called his brother, Tetteh Laweh, and Ankomah to drive the vehicle to the said location for inspection.
She said Benjamin Essel, who introduced himself as the said doctor, demanded for documents covering the vehicle after carrying out the inspection.
During the inspection of documents, it was noticed that, the Form C and GRA receipts were missing from the complete vehicle documents, so Essel told the deceased to get them set so he can pay for same after they arrive at a price. The deceased, together with Ankomah, returned to their warehouse at Kpone for the documents, but could not find them.
She said the deceased made enquiries to a DVLA official who intimated he could help in the registration process with Essel’s name and passport size pictures, and so the deceased relayed the information to Essel, who then asked the deceased to return to him for the passport size pictures.
She said Ankomah and the deceased on reaching the Tema Community 22 Polyclinic then met Essel in a brownish suit dress in the company of A4.
“There, Essel instructed A4 to take control of the steering so he could get his passport size photos from a nearby house to the deceased, and while waiting at a house closer to Bampoe Hotel on the Mawuli close St, A4 alighted from the vehicle to make a call,” prosecution said.
Inspector Boadi said, suddenly, the other accused persons emerged on a motorbike, where Latif Nashiru and A5 ambushed the deceased, whilst Tetteh pursued Ankomah.
“Upon several attack on the deceased, he flung the ignition key into a nearby bush, which incurred the wrath of Nashiru who shot him in the neck and killed him instantly,” the prosecution added.
BY Linda Tenyah-Ayettey