Court summons JB’s pathologist again

The Accra Central District Court has once again summoned Dr Lawrence Edusei, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Mr J.B. Danquah-Adu, to appear before the court and explain why the autopsy report on the murdered legislator is not ready.

Dr Edusei was ordered by the court on January 18, 2018 to produce the report on or before Thursday, February 8, 2017.

But at Thursday’s hearing, Dr Edusei had failed to produce the report neither was he in the courtroom to explain his failure to produce the report as ordered by the court.

The court, presided over by Ms Gloria Laryea, therefore, summoned the medical officer to appear before the court on February 22, 2018.

This is the third time the court has summoned Dr Edusei in relation to the release of the autopsy report.

War over autopsy

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.

The police and Dr Edusei have been at loggerheads over the delay in the release of the report with the police going to the extent of making an application for the court to order the medical officer to release the report.

According to the police, the delay in the release of the autopsy report 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.

Dr Edusei, however, informed the court on January 4, 2018, that the report got missing in September 2017, after thieves broke into his house and bolted with his belongings, including the computer which contained the report and thousands of other autopsy reports.

Anger

The absence of Dr Edusei from the courtroom yesterday angered a Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, who was in the courtroom as a lawyer representing the interest of NPP and the murdered MP.

He expressed his frustration to the court, describing the actions of Dr Edusei as “gross disrespect to the court”.

According to him, the pathologist’s attitude was hampering the delivery of justice and, therefore, he must be sanctioned by the court.

“He cannot hold the whole country to ransom. If it is possible, he should be changed. He is not the only pathologist in the country,” Nana Obiri Boahen said.

Facts

The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecution, were that the former 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 smartphones.

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.