A mason apprentice arrested in connection with the murder of Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, has been slapped with a 30-year jail term.
The convict, Ebenezer Kwayisi, was earlier charged with abetment to murder.
Kwayisi, also known as Junior, changed his not-guilty plea to a guilty plea upon entering an agreement with the state under the Plea Bargaining law.
A plea bargain is a process in the criminal justice system where accused persons relinquish their right to go through a full trial in exchange for some other benefits.
READ ALSO: ‘Killer’ cleaner had spare keys to the room
The benefits include a reduction of the offence to be charged to a lesser offence, a reduction in the punishment for the offence charged, or a withdrawal of some of the charges against the accused person.
The initial charge of abetment carries a life sentence, but the agreement has resulted in a lesser punishment.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to abetment to manslaughter at an Accra High Court presided by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh.
It will be recalled that three suspects were remanded in police custody over the murder of Professor Benneh, a prominent law lecturer at the University of Ghana.
The suspects, all domestic workers of the deceased, were earlier put before the Kaneshie District Court on September 13, 2020, after they were all slapped with murder charges.
READ ALSO: The Inside Story: University Of Ghana Law Lecturer Murdered In East Legon Mansion
They are James Nana Womba (now deceased) and his alleged accomplices, Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah (discharged after five months in police custody) and Ebenezer Kwayisi.
The facts of the case indicate that Professor Benneh’s lifeless body was found in his home at about 8 am on Thursday, September 10, 2020, in a pool of blood with his hands tied behind his back and marks of multiple acts of assault and resultant cuts on his body.
READ ALSO: Cleaner confesses involvement in Prof Benneh’s murder
Prof. Benneh had retired from the university but worked on contract and lived alone in his mansion.
There was no sign of a break-in.
However, one Isaac Botchway, who was the late law professor’s houseboy, said the last time he spoke to him was on September 10, 2020, at about 8 pm.
READ ALSO: Cleaner threw murdered lecturer’s CPU into manhole
Mr. Botchway said he lived in Accra Central, and Prof. Benneh normally called him whenever he needed him to run errands.
After finding out that the professor was not answering the door, they broke in, only to find his lifeless body.
According to the prosecution, investigations revealed that during the month of August 2020, Womba hatched a plan to murder Prof Benneh in his house.
It said two weeks later, Womba contacted Kwayisi to assist him to execute the plan.
The prosecution said Kwayisi agreed and on September 10, 2020, he went to the house of Prof Benneh where he and Womba put their plan into action and killed the professor.