Ghanaian accused in hospital killing

Sacaramento, USA -- A Ghanaian man stabbed his African-American wife to death in a south Sacramento hospital parking lot Tuesday morning, a week after the couple began divorce proceedings, according to Sacramento police.

Police said Wisdom Ofoe, 50, attacked Deanna Ofoe, 41, as she returned to her sport-utility vehicle after an appointment at Kaiser Permanente's South Sacramento Medical Center, stabbing her several times in the torso.

Deanna Ofoe died at the scene.

The man fled in a car.

Police, working on a tip from a concerned relative, found Wisdom Ofoe less than an hour after the incident. They said he had swallowed a large quantity of pills at a home in south Sacramento.

They arrested Ofoe and took him to Kaiser South for evaluation - the same Bruceville Road hospital where his wife was killed.

He remained there Tuesday night. When he is discharged from the hospital, Ofoe will be booked on homicide charges, said Sgt. Justin Risley, Sacramento police spokesman.

"Clearly, this wasn't a random act," Risley said. "She was targeted."

Wisdom Ofoe petitioned for divorce Sept. 19, according to public records. The Ofoes' two children, ages 11 and 15, are staying with relatives, police said.

Such a public display of violence stunned hospital workers and patients.

A crowd gathered near the parking lot, gazing at the blue tarp that covered the victim's body and shaking their heads.

Maria Martinez of Sacramento, who had driven a friend to the hospital for a checkup, said she heard a man and woman yelling in the parking lot but thought it was a typical dispute.

"Nobody knew it was murder," she said.

Sheila Wilson-Mate of Sacramento described the crime as "heartbreaking," adding that it underscores the pervasiveness of domestic violence.

"This is so sad, but it's even sadder these things go on every day," Wilson-Mate said.

Throughout the day, squad cars and news crews descended on the Fernridge Drive home where the couple lived with relatives. It's a brown one-story home in a quiet, working-class neighborhood.

Family members at the house refused to comment.

Neighbors said the couple generally kept to themselves, although a variety of friends and relatives often went in and out of the house.

"This is all so shocking," Rita Chavez said as detectives searched for evidence inside the Ofoes' home across the street. "We've never really had any problems."

Chavez described the victim as a "good-natured person" who often inquired about the health of Chavez's ailing father.

"She seemed very sweet," Chavez said.

Sgt. R.L. Davis, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman, said it didn't appear deputies had received any domestic violence calls from that address.

Because the suspect lived in the county, sheriff's deputies arrested Ofoe before turning over the case to the Sacramento Police Department.