Court remands suspects in Atronie murder case

Sunyani, April 20, GNA - A magistrate's court in Sunyani on Thursday remanded 13 more suspects, including Nana Wirekoaa Afriyie, queenmother, in the Atronie murder case to re-appear on April 26. The plea of the suspects, all residents of Atronie, where Mr Anthony Yeboah Boateng, Administrator of the Goaso Government Hospital was murdered on Easter Sunday, was not taken.

They are charged with murder and causing damage to property and would remain in custody to assist the police in their investigations. The other suspects were Adamu Hamidu, mason, 19, Yaw Ketewa, farmer, 30, Dominic Yeboah, 20, shoeshine boy, Yaw Ankamah Isaac, 23, Kofi Owusu Ansah, 18, carpenter and Kwadwo Agyeman Isaac, 22, shoeshine boy.

The rest were Yaw Oppong Charles, 26, Kwaku Yeboah, 24, Emmanuel Yaw Amoah, 23, Sampson Addai, 23, Kwaku Manu and Joseph Donkor, 23, all shoe shine boys.

Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP Martin Dapeamekpor, had applied to the court presided over by Mr Albert Zoogah to remand the accused to enable the police to complete investigations and furnish the court with the facts of the case on the next adjourned date.

Nana Wirekoaa and Adamu were arrested on Wednesday at their hideouts at Penkwasi, a suburb of Sunyani and Techimantia respectively, while the other 11 suspects were arrested on Monday in Accra. The suspects who are all residents of Atronie apparently bolted after the incident.

The late Mr Yeboah Boateng, who was also the Presiding Member of the Asunafo North District Assembly, was killed at about 2130 hours by some unidentified youth in the town as he, his wife and a Roman Catholic Sister were conveying the corpse of his aunt in his private car from Sunyani to be deposited at the Goaso Government Hospital. The youth had barricaded the road for a street jam to celebrate the Easter festivities and mistook Mr Boateng for an alleged ritual murderer and assaulted him to death.

The two women were saved by a policeman who whisked them to the safety of the Police Station, but was also assaulted by the irate youth.