Driver remanded for murder

Saltpond (C/R), June 15, GNA - A Saltpond Magistrate Court in the Central Region, on Monday remanded Edward Ansah, alias Ebo, a taxi driver in prison custody for murdering Mr. Yacoub Mensah, also a driver and stealing his car.

The plea of Ansah was charged with murder and stealing and would reappear on June 22 was not taken.

When the case was called, the facts of the case were not read. Police Inspector Patrick Yeboah, who is the investigator in the case, told the Ghana News Agency at the court that Ansah who lived at Saltpond and Mensah a resident of Mankessim were friends.

He said on June 10, this year, the accused requested the deceased to accompany him to Kumasi to purchase a car.

The Investigator said when the two of them set off for the journey and reached a small town called Kwame Korase, near the Mfantseman Girls Secondary School, Ansah told Mensah who was driving the taxi that he had a flat tyre.

According to him, when the deceased stopped and came out of the car to inspect the tyre, the accused quickly removed a short old pestle concealed in his bag and with the help of two others now on the run, who were hiding in the bush, hit the head of the deceased several times with it, killing him instantly.

He said the three then hurriedly dug a shallow grave in an okro farm and buried Ansah.

The investigator said the accused then managed to send the Daewoo Tico car to Kumasi Suame where the colour and the number plate were changed. Inspector Yeboah said upon a tip off, the farm was searched and the body of the deceased was retrieved and deposited at the Saltpond Government Hospital for autopsy. He added that the police also retrieved the car, the pestle and the cutlass used to commit the crime, while the sprayer was also arrested. 15 June 05