Ashanti Region: Trial of husband who allegedly murdered wife at Foase Kokoben begins

The High Court has commenced the trial of a man suspected to have killed his wife at Foase Kokoben in the Ashanti Region in 2022.

Kwadwo Appiah, 42, is reported to have assaulted the deceased Felicia Nti, leading to her death. The proceedings began on Wednesday (7 February) after a two-year delay. A seven-member jury was empanelled for the case presided over by Rosemarie Baah Tosu.

Presenting the case, state prosecutors told the court that the suspect worked as a factory man at the Special Ice Mineral Water at Foase, while the deceased was his wife though they were not living together.

The court heard that on 6 December 2022, at about 1 am, the suspect told the police that the deceased called a vehicle to come and pick her home shortly after a misunderstanding broke out between them.

That he saw a 4×4 pickup arrive shortly to pick up the victim indicating that efforts to get her back proved futile as she left the house. He suddenly saw her fall off the vehicle, but the occupants quickly picked her up.

The suspect, on 7 December 2022, however, confirmed killing the deceased after hitting her multiple times against a wall. He admitted in his caution statement that he wrapped the body in a bedsheet and drugged her to a nearby plantain farm and later applied soap and water to mob the blood-stained wall.

The suspect led the police to the crime scene and discovered the partly decomposed body of the deceased and conveyed to the morgue for preservation and autopsy.

Medics reveal in a post-mortem report that the deceased suffered massive bleeding, fracture around the right cheeks, and body trauma, among others describing the incident as a case of “unnatural death”.

The suspect who pleaded not guilty to the counts of murder was consequently remanded into custody to reappear on 12 March 2024, for a case management conference.