Legal practitioner Joseph Ackah-Blay has narrated details of a case in which a woman was convicted of abetting the murder of her husband after the Supreme Court of Ghana found that evidence presented at trial established her role in a staged robbery that resulted in his death.
The case involved Salamatu Karim and two men, Awudu Alhassan Sulemana, popularly known as “Dozer,” and Mohammed Sulemana, also known as “Banana.”
The three were convicted over the murder of Salamatu’s husband, Abdul Karim, at his residence at ACP Estates, Pokuase, on June 15, 2013.
According to the case presented before the courts, what initially appeared to be an armed robbery turned out to be a carefully planned attack in which the victim’s wife was alleged to have played a central role.
How the alleged robbery unfolded
On the night of June 15, 2013, Abdul Karim was at his home at ACP Estates, Pokuase, when he was attacked.
At about 9:35 p.m., his wife, Salamatu Karim, contacted the police and reported that armed robbers had broken into their home and attacked her husband while she was bathing.
By the time the police arrived, Abdul Karim had already been taken to the hospital. He was subsequently pronounced dead.
A post-mortem examination later revealed that Abdul had suffered severe injuries, including a fractured skull and fractured mandible.
The medical findings were consistent with a sustained and deliberate beating rather than an attack that occurred incidentally during a robbery.
Despite the seriousness of the incident, the case initially remained unresolved.
A separate robbery investigation changes everything
The breakthrough came years later when police were investigating a different alleged robbery.
During investigations into an unrelated attempted robbery, the police arrested a man identified as Kofi Nyagbedzi.
According to the prosecution's case, information provided by Nyagbedzi during that investigation led the police to two other men, Awudu Alhassan Sulemana, known as “Dozer,” and Mohammed Sulemana, known as “Banana.”
The police subsequently traced and arrested the two men at Dodowa.
It was during their interrogation that the circumstances surrounding Abdul Karim’s death allegedly began to emerge.
The confession
According to the prosecution, statements provided by Dozer and Banana gave investigators a completely different account of what had happened at the Karim residence on the night of the murder.
The two men allegedly admitted that the robbery reported by Salamatu had been staged.
Rather than unknown armed robbers breaking into the house, the prosecution said the two men had been allowed into the residence by Salamatu herself.
Salamatu was not only Abdul Karim’s wife but also Dozer’s sister.
The prosecution's case was that she recruited the two men to carry out the attack on her husband and facilitated their entry into the house.
According to the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, Salamatu hid Dozer and Banana in the bathroom until the appropriate time.
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She allegedly pointed out Abdul Karim to them, supplied the weapon that was to be used in the attack and promised to pay them after the operation.
The prosecution further alleged that the wife participated in efforts to conceal the circumstances surrounding the killing by making it appear as though the house had been attacked by armed robbers.
The allegations transformed the case from an unsolved robbery-related murder into an alleged conspiracy involving people known to the victim.
Convictions and death sentences
Following the trial, the three accused persons were convicted.
Dozer was convicted of murder and conspiracy, while Banana was convicted of conspiracy.
Salamatu was convicted of abetment of murder, despite not being the person who physically inflicted the fatal injuries on her husband.
The court found that her alleged role in facilitating the attack was sufficient to establish her participation in the crime.
All three were subsequently sentenced to death.
However, the convictions did not end the case.
The appeal to the Court of Appeal
The three convicted persons challenged the decision and took their case to the Court of Appeal.
In November 2018, the Court of Appeal affirmed the convictions.
Still dissatisfied with the outcome, they proceeded to the Supreme Court to challenge the decision.
Their counsel, Raphael Alijina Debrah, filed thirteen grounds of appeal.
According to the Supreme Court's eventual consideration of the case, the grounds essentially centred on four main issues.
The appellants challenged the admission of the confession statements, arguing that the statements should not have been admitted in evidence.
They also challenged the directions given to the jury by the trial judge.
Their lawyers further argued that the evidence presented by the prosecution did not establish the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
They also contended that the Court of Appeal had erred in affirming the convictions.
Supreme Court examines the confession statements
One of the central issues before the Supreme Court was whether the statements made by Dozer and Banana had been voluntarily given and were therefore properly admitted as evidence.
The Supreme Court noted that the trial judge had conducted a mini trial specifically to determine whether the statements were voluntary.
During that process, the judge assessed the credibility of the witnesses and evidence surrounding the statements before concluding that they had been freely made.
The Supreme Court held that such a finding by a trial judge, who had the opportunity to see and hear the witnesses directly, should not be casually overturned by an appellate court.
The apex court found no sufficient reason to interfere with the trial judge's conclusion on the admissibility and voluntariness of the statements.
Jury directions also challenged
The appellants also argued that the trial judge had failed in the way the jury was directed before it reached its verdict.
The Supreme Court rejected that argument.
It found the judge's summing-up to the jury to have been balanced, comprehensive and legally accurate.
The court therefore found no basis to conclude that the jury had been improperly directed or that the directions had prejudiced the appellants.
What the Supreme Court said about Salamatu's role
A significant part of the appeal concerned Salamatu Karim and whether the evidence against her was sufficient to establish abetment of murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Her lawyers argued that the prosecution had not presented enough evidence to establish that she had participated in the murder.
The Supreme Court disagreed.
The court considered the evidence concerning her alleged role in the events leading to her husband's death, including the statements attributed to Dozer and Banana.
According to the evidence, Salamatu had let the two men into the house, hidden them in the bathroom, identified her husband to them and assisted in the arrangements surrounding the attack.
The court also considered the medical evidence concerning the injuries sustained by Abdul Karim.
Those injuries, together with the other evidence presented at trial, supported the prosecution's contention that Abdul's death was not the result of a random robbery but a deliberate and coordinated attack.
The Supreme Court therefore found that the evidence, taken as a whole, established Salamatu's involvement sufficiently to sustain the conviction for abetment of murder.
Supreme Court dismisses appeal
After considering the various grounds of appeal, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal in its entirety.
The convictions of Awudu Alhassan Sulemana, alias Dozer, Mohammed Sulemana, alias Banana, and Salamatu Karim were therefore affirmed.
The death sentences imposed on all three were also affirmed.
The Supreme Court's judgment was delivered on July 29, 2026.
A staged robbery, a grieving widow, and the confession that unraveled it all On the night of 15 June 2013, Abdul Karim was killed in his home at ACP Estates, Pokuase. At about 9:35 p.m. His wife, Salamatu Karim, called the police. Her account was that armed robbers had broken in…
— Joseph Ackah-Blay (@BlayAckah) September 23, 2026 AK/AM