It is about three weeks now since the President ordered the re-opening of investigations into the Serial Killings of the 34 women in the late 90’s and early 2000.
The President Atta Mills directive provoked mixed reactions among Ghanaians: But looking at the matter in its entirety dispassionately, the order is perfect, especially when it is still a matter shrouded in mystery. There are still strong doubts about who did the killings.
There is also the fact that one man was arrested, convicted and is now on the death row at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons. Many people see his arrest, trial and conviction as a miscarriage of justice, given the circumstances of the case.
The President is also right in ordering the re-opening of the case because of seeming commissions and omissions in the general handling of the case by the Police Investigation’s team and the Judiciary.
It is true that justice delayed is justice denied, and although Quansah has been on death row for the past eight years with no hope of having his appeal heard soon, it is in keeping with natural law and social justice that the case is finally handled thoroughly to clear all doubts surrounding it. In this context too, the President’s order is beyond question.
Immediately after Quansah’s conviction, this reporter sought, through several interviews with Quansah’s Counsel, Police Investigative Officers, Prison Officers and all those who had anything to do with the accused, to find out whether, indeed, Quansah was the one who did the killings.
From The Network Herald to The Enquirer, this reporter discovered certain facts through investigations which can help the Police as they re-open the case.
Below is one of such painstaking investigative reports carried by The Enquirer, which when carefully followed, can unravel the misery of the killings and reveal the guilt or otherwise of Quansah.
Surely, it will help determine whether his conviction is a travesty of justice or not.
Below is the story:
One: He was arrested in Adenta, in the Greater Accra Region for murdering his girlfriend Joyce Boateng in July, 2000, but he was prosecuted for the murder of a certain Akua Serwaa, who was found dead around Kumasi Sports Stadium, in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, on January 19, 1996.
Two: Whist he was in custody, police claimed he reportedly confessed to murdering nine out of the 34 women who were serially killed in Accra but was, again, tried for only one.
Three: Charles Quansah, the suspected serial killer, was pronounced guilty by an Accra High Court on the basis of doubtful lie detector test administered on him as well as state prosecutors’ claim that he confessed to the serial killings.
Four: Quansah, has, however denied responsibility for the horrific serial killings and called for a judicial enquiry into his trial.
Now: Investigation has revealed that during Quansah’s trial, the police disregarded a subpoena issued by the High Court to produce the said lie detector used on Quansah as well as the alleged confession tape recording.
The court subpoenaed the police to produce the lie detector and the confession tapes to back their claim that the suspect was, indeed, guilty of the charges leveled against him.
The document titled “Subpoena Duce Tecum (General Form)”issued at the High Court Criminal session, Accra, Court 6, dated July 9, 2002 and signed on behalf of the then Chief Justice Edward K. Wiredu, ordered the then Commissioner of Police (CID), Patrick K. Acheampong, now Inspector- General of Police (IGP), to appear before the trial judge, Mrs. Justice Agnes Dodzie, to produce the said items.
“You are hereby commanded to attend before Judge at High Court Criminal Sessions, Accra, Court 6, on Thursday, the 11th day of July 2002, at the hour of 9 am in the fore noon, and so from day to day until the above cause is tried, to give evidence on behalf of the accused person, and so bring with you and produce at the time and place aforesaid:
1. The Lie Detector used on the Accused person.
2. Various statements made by Accused person before 8th May 2001.
3. The Tape recording of the confession.
Even though Mr. Acheampong failed to obey the directives of the Court to appear and produce the said materials as requested, Justice Agnes Dodzie did not cite him for contempt of court as is usually the case when one shows gross disrespect toward the court.
Legal experts who have commented on the issue say Mr. Acheampong’s failure to be present in court over an important national issue like the murder of 34 women should have attracted a charge of contempt of court which should have landed him in jail.
The experts who pleaded anonymity, told this reporter that Mrs. Justice Dodzie should have issued a bench warrant to arrest Mr. Acheampong, put him in custody and be produced upon request
They were, therefore, surprised why the judge allowed the proceedings to go on without the presence of the witness and such vital material which would erase any shred of doubt about the police investigations and the trial itself.
Whist some argued that the ends of justice would have been met better if Mrs. Justice Dodzie had written directly to Ernest Owusu Poku, then Inspector -General of Police (IGP), to compel Mr. Acheampong to appear after his failure to obey the directive, others thought that she (the judge) might not have deemed his (Mr. Acheampong’s) presence very vital in the trial.
IGP SPEAKS
When this reporter contacted Mr. Acheampong, he said he could not remember seeing any subpoena during his term of office at the CID Headquarters.
He postulated that the document might have been served on the Legal Directorate, the official counsel for the Police Service.
Head of Police Public Relations Deputy Superintendent David Senanu Eklu, who spoke to this reporter after speaking to the IGP, said Mr. Acheampong explained to him that he did not see the subpoena, possibly because it was not served on him directly.
“It would have been served on the IGP and handled by the Legal Directorate on his behalf, or the Attorney- General’s Department might have handled it”, he guessed.
Asked whether the IGP could have produced the said lie detector if the sub
poena had been served on him directly, he was emphatic that the Ghana Police does not have any device; hence he (Mr. Acheampong) could not have produced it in court if he had appeared.
“As far as I’m aware, the Police CID does not have a lie detector and has not used one before to the best of my knowledge”, he told this reporter in a follow up interview.
QUANSAH’s LAWYER
His Lawyer, Mr. Joseph Obliquaye Amui of Tetterley Chambers, when contacted, confirmed that he caused a subpoena to be issued to compel the Commissioner of Police CID to come to court with the said Lie Detector used on Quansah and statements he gave to the interrogators before May 8th as well as tape recordings of the confessions during interrogation but the Commissioner of Police, CID, never showed up.
The subpoena, counsel said, was issued after Quansah hinted him of a possible use of a Lie Detector Machine on him by the Police in the presence of some white men believed to be officials of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
Counsel said he wanted the Lie Detector test to be administered on Quansah in the full glare of the court for the court to note its results.
Mr. Amui, 72 years at the time, told this reporter that his family, colleague lawyers and friends were unhappy with him for opting to represent the accused person upon a request from the Legal Aid Board, adding that he was of the view that“ there has been a miscarriage of justice “.
According to him, true Justice would have been served if the trial judge had compelled the CID boss to appear with the materials.
Quansah’s counsel said during the trial, he faced uphill task as a result t of the many issues, including having a female judge sitting on the case and the publications of the numerous pictures of Charles Quansah which likened him to Dr. Ram Beckley, a medical doctor and an occultist, who was prosecuted for possessing human parts.
These, among others, he said, prejudiced the trial long before it commenced. He also confirmed seeing torture marks on his client, which he (Quansah) told him he suffered in the hands of the police interrogators when he was in custody.
“They (Police) had a list of the victims (murdered women) and beating him severely to admit killing them.
He said they used pliers to clip his skin on many occasions, and asked him to admit to killing the women”, he said.
Mr. Amui disclosed that he was yet to be paid his fees by the Legal Aid Board, three clear years after the trial, and insisted that although he drew the judge’s attention to the torture marks and produced a witness to prove a case of the inhuman treatment meted out on Quansah, she disregarded their claim.
Mr. Amui, who was a member the Special Investigation Board (SIB) that investigated the murder of the three High Court Judges and the Retired Military Officer, believes strongly that his client is innocent and that a comprehensive investigation by the Police would have nailed the real killers.
NANA OYE LITHUR
On the subpoena, she insisted that failure to respond to it is a serious crime against the court, and advised Quansah’s counsel to go for an appeal against the conviction if he felt that he had a genuine case to deter
mine his fate.
THE SERIAL KILLINGS
For three years, the country was held to ransom with people, especially women, afraid to stay outdoor after 9 pm as a result of what came to be known as the serial killing of women in Accra.
Post mortem examination records available at the Police Hospital, cited by this reporter indicated that the victims were mostly found lying in supine position with their legs widely opened , with blood or substances of semen on their private parts.
Also described as ‘Ritual Murders’, the Spintex Road, Kwabenya, Asylum Down, Kisseman, Teshie, Adenta,Achimota, Adabraka and Dansoman, were among the areas where some of the dead bodies were located.
Mataheko, a suburb of Accra, was the worst hit community.
THE SUSPECT LIST
Interestingly, when the then Minister for the Interior, Nii Okaidja Adamafio (MP) and the then IGP, Peter Nanfuri, released the list of the suspected serial killers in Parliament, Quansah’s name was not included.
One Leopold Mawuli Anka, was a name released by the then government as one of the key suspects
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