Tuesday, May 18, 2010

WOMAN TO BE HANGED ...For killing husband over cocoa farm (LEAD STORY, MAY 15, 2010)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi

A middle-aged woman broke down in tears yesterday after the Sekondi High Court had handed her the death sentence by hanging for murdering her husband.
The convict, Ama Ackon, killed her husband, Kwame Amoako, ostensibly to take control of his large cocoa farm.
After a seven-member jury had unanimously found her guilty of murder, the convict, who spotted an all red attire and held a specially made club in the dock, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.
But the court, presided over by Mr Justice Anthony Oppong, ignored her plea and applied the law to serve as a deterrent to others.
The facts of the case, as presented by a Principal State Attorney, Mr George Kpodo, were that the late Amoako, a native of Brong Ahafo, relocated to Sefwi-Asawinso in the Western Region, got married to Ackon and had three children with her in the process.
Ackon’s mother then gave a large parcel of land to the couple for the cultivation of cocoa, which was very successful.
The marriage later collapsed and Ackon relocated to neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire.
After a few years, she returned to the community and dragged the husband to court to demand her share of the farm.
The farm was later divided into three equal parts, with the man, who was then taking care of their three children, given two parts, while Ackon was given the remaining part.
On November 12, 2006, Ackon, dressed in her usual all-red attire and armed with a club, followed her former husband to the farm.
On reaching the farm, she clubbed Amoako, who was then busily working, resulting in his instant death.
Another farmer who witnessed the incident asked Ackon why she had done that and she replied, “The blood of Jesus will even deal with him (Amoako) even after his death.”
The other farmer reported the incident to the police, but before they could get to the crime scene, Ackon had dragged Amoako’s body to the deepest part of the forest and covered it with weeds.
She confessed to killing the husband after her arrest and led the police to retrieve the body from the forest.

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