Nine accused persons who were put before the Tarkwa Magistrate Court One for allegedly conspiring and murdering a taxi driver, Kwadwo Donkor, have been remanded into prison custody.

They were charged with conspiracy to commit crime and murder, but their pleas were not taken.

They would re-appear before the court presided over by Mr Charles Owusu Nsiah on Monday, January 6, 2025.

Presenting the facts of the case, Prosecuting Police Sergeant Enoch Assan Donkor, said the complainant, a businessman resided at Huniso and the deceased (Kwadwo) alias Chilling was his employee.

The accused persons: Nana Kwabena Agyarko, 45, Evans Azure alias, Ampana, 40, Peter Kwamena Antwi, 34, Felix Atsu Davor, 38, Sampson Agbodojie, 30, Kojo Bonzy, 72, Stephen Owusu, alias Kofi Abanga, 38, Kofi Ampabeng, 38 and Lucky Mudoo, 30 are teacher, mason, drivers, and farmers.

The prosecution said apart from Azure who lived at Camp, a village near Tarkwa, the rest were residents of Akotom, a community along the Tarkwa-Bogoso highway.

On November 8, 2024, at about 0830 hours, the deceased left home with his taxicab for work but did not return after the day’s work.

The complainant’s several efforts to reach him on the phone proved futile and he reported the matter to the police on November 9, 2024, around 1430 hours.

Sergeant Donkor said while the investigation was ongoing, the police picked up intelligence that on November 9, 2024, at about 0400 hours, one Sheriffa, who is a suspect in the case and currently on the run, sighted the deceased at Akotom near her husband’s car and without any justification, raised the alarm that he was a thief.

That, he said, attracted the accused persons and some youth of Akotom town, who were currently at large to the scene.

The accused persons accosted the deceased and Azure who was then passing by joined them and provided a rope from his car which they used to tie the deceased against an electric pole.

Sergeant Donkor said the accused persons and their accomplices subjected the deceased to severe beatings with all kinds of objects which led to his death.

He said when they realized Kwadwo was dead they placed the body in a tricycle and dumped it in a nearby bush along the Tarkwa-Bogoso Highway which was about 1.5 kilometres away from the Akotom township.

On November 10, 2024, Agyarko who was picked up to assist police in its investigation denied any knowledge of the crime but later confessed and mentioned Antwi and others on the run as his accomplices.

Agyarko further led the police to the bush and identified the exact place where they hid the body and it was retrieved even though the body was in an advanced decomposition state.

On November 12, 2024, Azure was also arrested and he said Antwi and Davor were involved, and both were nabbed from their hideout for investigations

Sergeant Donkor further told the court that police intelligence also disclosed that the rest of the accused persons were part of the crime and they were all arrested.

Before remanding the accused persons, Mr Charles Owusu Nsiah, the presiding judge, asked the police to work hard and ensure they provided enough evidence on Agbodojie, Bonzy, Owusu, Ampabeng and Mudoo in the crime.

The prosecution assured the court that on the next adjourned date the police would reveal the role each of the five accused persons played in the death of Kwadwo.