I have made a mistake - JB´s ´killer´ tells Court

A 19-year old school dropout, who is being held for the death of Mr Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North, has said he erred in killing the legislator.

Daniel Asiedu, the accused, said he had gone to the Shiashie residence of the MP to steal but not to kill him.

Asiedu, after listening to the facts and charges, presented in court, raised his hands, saying: “My Lord, I have something to say. I know I have erred. I only went to the house to steal. I beg you my Lord.”

The Court, however, asked Aseidu, who had shaved off his hair and dressed in white T shirt and a pair of jeans, to reserve his speech, since he would be given the chance to speak at the appropriate time.

The Police however, said Asiedu went to the house, near East Legon, with a cutter, knife and a catapult, and allegedly used a ladder in the house to enter the deceased’s room.

The accused, an ex-convict, made the pronouncement, on Tuesday, before the Magistrate’s Court Five in Accra, amidst heavy armed Police presence in and outside the Court.

He has been charged with murder, but his plea has been reserved. Asiedu had no legal representation.

The Court, presided over by Mr Stephen Owusu, remanded Asiedu, into Police custody to reappear on March 1.

“However if there is something wrong in respect of where you are being kept, you can tell the Court. This Court is for committal proceedings,” the Court said.

Prosecuting, Superintendent of Police Mr Francis Baah said, the deceased, J.B. Danquah-Adu, lived with his family in a one storey building at Shiashie., while Asiedu, a school dropout, lived with his girlfriend at Agbogloshie in Accra.

On February 8, this year, at about 11.40pm the deceased went to his house with his driver Samuel Berko Sarkodie, he said.

The driver after dropping the deceased handed over the car keys to him (the deceased) and left to his residence at Kasoa.

At about 01:00 hours, however, Asiedu armed himself with a catapult, sharp cutlass and a cutter, and on the blind side of the MP's security man entered his residence.

Asiedu picked up a ladder and entered the top floor of the house where the deceased was sleeping, whilst he said, the security man at post was also fast asleep.

Asiedu on entering the deceased’s room searched the place and in the process the deceased woke from his sleep and held Asiedu.

The Prosecution said Asiedu stabbed the deceased above his breast on his left side, so the deceased then held the knife of Asiedu and shouted for help.

Superintendent Baah said the deceased, subsequently, sustained deep cuts in his hands and became unconscious.

While the deceased was bleeding profusely, Asiedu stabbed him again below the breast on his right side and neck and left him (the deceased) to his fate.

Aseidu then took away two iphones and a tablet of the deceased, and managed to descend from the top to the back of the house and climbed one of the polytanks in the house, and skipped the electric fence of the house into an adjoining house and escaped.

The Prosecution said the security man in the house heard the shouts of the deceased for help and he alerted other security men in the area to assist but no one went to their aid.

Superintendent Baah said some neighbours, however, got in touch with the Police emergency number but when the Police arrived, the MP had passed on, so they conveyed the body of the MP to the Police Hospital, where it is awaiting autopsy.

The prosecutor said investigations led to the arrest of the accused who confessed to the crime.

The Exhibits retrieved from the accused, among other things, have been forwarded to the Police Forensic Laboratory for analysis.

Superintendent Baah Asiedu said the accused also sustained injuries on his left finger and the last finger on his right hand.