Kasoa ritual murder: I don’t know anything about Ishmael’s death – 18-year-old accused

The 18-year-old teenager who has been charged together with a 15-year-old juvenile has told the High Court in Accra that he doesn’t know anything about the death of Ishmael Mensah Abdallah, the 11-year-old boy who was allegedly killed for money rituals at Kasoa.

The two teenagers have been charged with the conspiracy and murder of Ishmael Mensah Abdallah before the High Court in Accra, presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo.

While the 15-year-old juvenile (1st accused) has admitted the offence and stated that they “committed the crime together,” the 18-year-old, 2nd accused, has denied the charges.

In court on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, the 2nd accused opened his defence in the ongoing trial after the first accused had closed his case.

While being led by his counsel to give his evidence-in-chief to the court, the 18-year-old said the 15-year-old juvenile’s account that they planned the death of the 10-year-old Ishmael was not true.

He stated that the first accused came to spend the night at his house, but they never planned to kill anyone.

“When the first accused spent the night in my house, we did not plan the death of Ishmael,” he told the court on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

“On Friday, April 2, 2021, when the first accused came to my house, I asked him where he was coming from, and he told me that he went to work with his father around Suhum, near Nsawam.

“I asked him where his father was, and he told me that his father had left earlier for the house,” he told the court.

He added, “I also asked him if he had been home, and he told me that when he went home, he saw that the door had been locked, so he decided to spend the night in my house because I was home alone that day.”

“When he spent the night in my house, we did not discuss anything in relation to going to any place, and on that day, he (15-year-old) did not speak to anyone on the phone when he was in my house,” he told the jury.

“I told him that the coming Monday (April 5, 2021), I would want to visit my hometown. He told me he’d like to come along with me to my home town because he had heard that there’s a lot of black magic there.

“The first accused (15-year-old juvenile) also told me that he had won a lottery and that he had GHc500 on his phone that day.

“I told him that I was feeling sleepy and I wanted to go to sleep. I turned off the light, and we both slept,” he told the court.

When asked by his counsel to tell the court what happened the next day, the second accused explained, “My Lady, on Saturday, April 3, 2021, when I and the first accused woke up, I told him to wash his face and start heading home since his father might be looking for him.

“After he freshened up, he left. The first accused left my house between 5 and 6 a.m.

“I went to brush my teeth, and that is when my grandfather asked me to warm the food so I and my siblings could eat.

“I lit up the fire and was about to warm the food when I saw Mr Nyarko, the first accused father, ask how I was doing,” he told the court.

“I said I was fine; he proceeded to tell me that he had some work to do and would like me to assist him in doing that. I asked him where his son, the 1st accused, was, and he told me that the 1st accused wasn’t feeling well, so he could not assist him.

“I asked his (1st accused) father if he was aware that his son slept over in my house on Friday,” but he said.

The father told me that his son did not tell him that, but rather, he told him that he slept in an uncompleted building close to their house.

The case has been adjourned to February 8, 2024 for continuation.