Abesim Murder: Accused Fit To Stand Trial At High Court
A footballer who allegedly murdered two minors and kept their body parts in a refrigerator at Abesim in the Bono Region is fit to stand trial at the High Court after a medical assessment.
Richard Appiah, who is being held on murder charges, is expected to appear before the court in Accra on August 16.
Appiah is said to have behaved violently and abnormally in custody. He drank his urine and ate his stool.
The court, therefore, ordered that Appiah should undergo an examination.
He is said to have undergone psychiatric examinations at the Ghana Police Hospital and the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
The Attorney General’s Department, on July 3, 2023, brought two medical doctors to court, and they were interrogated after examining the accused person.
The medical doctors admitted that the history of Appiah indicated that he had been violent, heard voices and was “likely to be suffering from defects of reasoning which at the time may have led him to lose the appreciation of the fact that he had killed the two minors.”
They held that Appiah, after taking his medication, had “improved” and “he understood why they were charging him for allegedly killing the two minors.”
Appiah is standing trial for the murder of Louis Agyeman and Stephen Sarpong in cold blood.
Charged with murder, the 28-year-old footballer has had his plea preserved by the court.
Appiah is accused of storing some of the body parts of the victims in a refrigerator after killing them.
The police, during investigations, retrieved some body parts and intestines from a farm. The minors have since been buried.
Appiah is expected to answer the charge of murder before the High Court.
The prosecution, led by Nana Ama Adinkra, a State Attorney, said the State would call six witnesses to establish its case.
It tendered autopsy reports of the two minors, partially burnt clothes and slippers of the minors, and their pictures, among others.
Defence Counsel, Mr T.K. Dzimega, who is handling the case pro bono, said the accused person would call two witnesses from Abesim.