Kasoa murder case: Young offender accuses juvenile of setting him up

One of the teenagers accused of murdering an 11-year-old boy in Kasoa for money ritual has yet again denied knowledge of the crime levelled against him, accusing his alleged accomplice of setting him up.

Under the cross-examination of state prosecutors, the young offender told the court, presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, that the whole incident was a set up adding that he was not close to the boy to have hatched a plan to murder him.

That was after state prosecutors had confronted him with his own cautioned statement to the police in which he indicated that he knew the accomplice very well.

Set up

Under the cross-examination of Senior State Attorney, Nana Ama Adoma, the young offender said the boy only slept at his end the Friday before the incident adding: “I believe it was a setup which I fell into”.

He further denied knowledge of the implements the prosecution claimed was used to commit the offence.

 “I know nothing about the exhibits brought from the crime scene.

Those working tools were there before we got there.

And I’m pleading with the court that a fingerprint test be conducted on those exhibits to confirm whether I held any of them,” he said. 

He further requested a fingerprint test to be conducted on the exhibits that were picked from the uncompleted building where the victim was killed.

Background

A 15-year-old accused (juvenile) has been charged alongside the 18-year-old (young offender) for the murder of the 11-year-old boy.

The two have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and murder, and are currently standing trial at the court, presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo.

According to the prosecution, on March 29, 2021, the accused persons consulted a spiritualist for money rituals locally known as "sakawa".

The said spiritualist, who claimed to be in the Volta Region, was said to have requested GH¢5,000 and a human being to perform the rituals.

On April 3, 2021, the accused persons, according to the prosecution, decided to use the boy in furtherance of their "sakawa" mission. 

Around 9 a.m. on the same day, the prosecutor said, the juvenile accused lured the boy into an uncompleted building where the second accused had laid ambush with the club of a pickaxe.

“As soon as the boy arrived, they told him to remove a video game from a sack they had deposited in a corner of the room.

“When the boy bent down in an attempt to remove the said video game from the sack, the second accused struck him at the back of his neck with the club, causing him to fall,” Nana Osei said.

The boy, she said, turned to look at the juvenile accused and pleaded with him not to kill him but forgive him, if he had offended him but his plea was ignored by the juvenile accused who struck the head of the boy with a cement block which was in the building.

As a result, the boy became unconscious but was still breathing. 

The accused persons, the prosecution said, further used a spade and a shovel to dig a shallow grave in the room and buried the boy with the intention to convey him to the spiritualist.