Court orders pathologist to produce JB’s autopsy report by Feb 8

Dr Lawrence Edusei, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Mr J.B. Danquah-Adu, has been ordered by the Accra Central District Court to produce the autopsy report on or before February 8, 2018.

“I expect the report to be ready on or before February 8, 2018,’’ the presiding magistrate, Ms Arit Nsemoh, ordered the pathologist on Thursday.

Mr Danquah-Adu, a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa North, was murdered on February 9, 2016, but the release of his autopsy report has become a matter of controversy.

On January 4, 2018, Dr Edusei informed the court that the autopsy report got missing in September 2017.

According to him, thieves broke into his house and bolted with his belongings, including the computer which contained the report and thousands of other autopsy reports.

The medical officer was in court after he had been subpoenaed in November 2017  to explain why he had not furnished the police with the full autopsy report, 21 months after Mr Danquah-Adu was murdered.

Based on his assertion that the report was missing, the court ordered him to produce it and also report himself to the court yesterday on its progress

The delay in the release of the report, the police said, had hampered their efforts to build a solid case against Daniel Asiedu, aka Sexy Don Don, and Vincent Bosso, aka Junior Agogo, the two men linked to the murder of the former MP.

Asiedu and Bosso are currently before the district court awaiting the commencement of committal proceedings which will facilitate their eventual trial at the High Court.

The two were on trial at the High Court after more than a year of committal proceedings at the district court.

But, on May 29, 2017, they were discharged by the High Court after the Attorney-General had filed a nolle prosequi to discontinue with prosecution.

Working on a new report

At yesterday’s hearing, Dr Edusei informed the court that he was working around the clock to produce a new autopsy report.

“I have received some pictures of the deceased from the Police Hospital. I have also received more pictures from the CID. That is the stage where I am right now,’’ he said.

Ms Nsemoh then gave him up to February 8, 2018 to produce the report.

She also inquired from the prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) George Amegah, the progress of the case.

The prosecutor replied that the police had already forwarded the case docket to the Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Office for advice and that they were waiting for the full autopsy report to forward it to the A-G.

Present in the court yesterday was a Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Nana Obiri Boahen, who said he was in court to represent the interest of the NPP and Mr Danquah-Adu’s family.

Facts

The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecution, are that the deceased MP lived with his family in a one-storey house at Shiashie, near East Legon, a suburb of Accra, while Asiedu and Bosso lived at Agbogbloshie, also in Accra.

 About 11:40 p.m. on February 8, 2016, the MP arrived home in his private car driven by his driver. The driver handed over the ignition keys of the car to Mr Danquah-Adu and left for home, after which the MP retired to bed in a room located on the first floor of his house.

About 1 a.m. that same night, Asiedu and Bosso, armed with a catapult, a cutter and a sharp knife, went to the legislator’s house.

Bosso is said to have assisted Asiedu to enter the house by scaling the wall on the blind side of a security man who was fast asleep. On entering the house, Asiedu picked a ladder and climbed onto a porch on the top floor and entered the MP’s bedroom through a window while Mr Danquah-Adu was sleeping.

While Asiedu was searching the room, the MP woke up and held him. There ensued a struggle, during which Asiedu stabbed the MP in the right chest above the breast. The MP consequently held the knife and Asiedu pulled it through the latter’s hand, leaving a deep cut in his palm.

The legislator bled profusely and fell by his bed, after which Asiedu stabbed him several times on his right chest and neck.

On realising that the MP was dying, Asiedu left the room and took with him three iPhone smart phones.

Meanwhile, the struggle between the MP and Asiedu had drawn the attention of the security man in the house, who alerted other security men in the neighbourhood.

Having been alerted to the impending danger, Bosso took to his heels, leaving Asiedu behind. However, Asiedu managed to descend from the top of the house and jumped over the electric fencing on the walls of the house into an adjoining house and escaped.