Pharmacist In Mystery Death

A PHARMACIST at the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Koforidua was found yesterday morning hanging from the top of one of the acacia trees serving as windbreaks at the sports field of the Asokore SDA College of Education in the New Juaben municipality of the Eastern region.

Isaac Wilberforce, 40, was said to have received a call on his mobile phone around 2.30am yesterday and consequently left the house in his Opel Omega car with registration number AS 1348 S.

He was later found hanging on the tree with his tongue sticking out early yesterday morning by passers-by.

His car was parked a few metres from where his body was hanging on the near-by Kassardjan road, which was recently commissioned by President Atta Mills, with half pair of his slippers placed near it and the other half in the bush nearby.

The grass beneath the tree where his body was found hanging looked like a fight or struggle had taken place there and the rope used to hang him was tied around both shoulders and the neck and knotted on two branches of the tree.

Onlookers who trooped to the scene immediately suspected ‘foul play’ as the shirt he was wearing looked very dirty while his pair of trousers was also unbuttoned, but the Koforidua police are not completely ruling out suicide.

Police investigators who arrived at the scene also found hospital gloves in his car, the padlock to the main gate of his house, with an empty bottle of ‘Alomo Bitters’ placed near the car.

The wife, whose name DAILY GUIDE could not readily establish, was said to have collapsed upon hearing the sad news.

According to sources at the St Joseph’s hospital, the wife arrived at the hospital around 6.00am to find out whether the husband had reported to work after leaving the house around 2.30am.

The sources said she was worried because when the husband was leaving the house, he left his mobile phone behind, and so she could not reach him. She therefore came with the husband’s mobile phone to find out whether he was at work so that she could give it to him.

She was however told that the husband had not reported to work so she left for home.

Some minutes later, a call came through to the hospital authorities that Mr Wilberforce had hanged himself near the Kassardjan road at the SDA College of Education’s sports field.

The call came from an onlooker who knew the pharmacist.

The police at Koforidua were also alerted and after collecting evidence and exhibits, the body was taken to the mortuary of the St Joseph’s Hospital.

Staff members of the St Joseph’s Hospital were stunned at the turn of events because some of them who spoke to DAILY GUIDE said Mr Wilberforce reported to work on Wednesday in a very happy mood as usual and he showed no sign of depression.

They also suspected foul play and called on the police to conduct thorough investigations into the death of their colleague.

Mr Wilberforce left behind three children.

The New Juaben Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent David Tefutor, said information on the death of the victim was scanty because the wife, who was the main witness, was currently on admission after collapsing upon hearing the news.

He gave the assurance that the police would conduct thorough investigations into the death of Mr Wilberforce.

He however cautioned members of the public to refrain from tampering with evidence on any crime scene because it could negatively affect investigations.