Runaway chainsaw operator remanded

The 35-year-old chainsaw operator who allegedly slapped his girlfriend to death but was later arrested from his hideout was last Friday remanded in prison custody by the Shame District Magistrate Court.

Mr. Stephen Odoom also known as Kwaku Mensah had a confrontation with Ms Akua Kyerewaa, 36, at Wassa Essaman in the Wassa East District of the Western Region where the accused gave his deceased girlfriend a slap in reply to an earlier slap he received from her (deceased).

The court,  presided by Mrs Patience  Ashiamae Ablor, did  not take his   plea and  remanded the accused in prison custody at Sekondi to   reappear  on November 26.

Meanwhile, Police  investigations continue.

 Odoom, alias  Kwaku Mensah,   was arrested   on Wednesday, October 16, 2021,  and placed  in custody at the Dabodse Distict Police Command.

According to the police, the accused,  murdered  Kyerewaa  after frequent  misunderstanding  over step-children and fled  Wassa Essaman  but  he  was arrested,  by the Daboase police  in  his hideout at  Agona Kwanyako, in the Central Region, 

Multiple sources explained that in the course  of a  quarrel, Kyerewaa slapped Odoom, who also replied and the deceased  fell leading to her death the police  told The Spectator.

Meanwhile,  the body of the deceased has since been  deposited at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital morgue awaiting autopsy.

In an interview, the Western Regional Police Public Affairs Officer,Deputy Superintendent  of Police  (DSP)  Olivia Ewurabena Adiku said that, at  about  8.30am  on Sunday, October 17, the police received  information from Silas Kwofie,  the ex-regent of Wassa Essaman that  Kyerewaa had been found dead in a bush at the outskirts of  the town.

The  police, she said,  rushed  to  Wassa Essaman where they  found Kyerewaa dead and  lying in a supine position with blood and foam oozing from the mouth in a bush near Italy Stree, a suburb of the community.

DSP Adiku mentioned that an uncle  of Kyerewaa,   Peter Barnes, confirmed the identity  of the  deceased and that  she had  five children.

Giving further details, DSP Adiku narrated that investigations revealed  that the deceased,  Kyerewaa for sometime now, lived  in  her house  with her boyfriend, Kwaku Mensah,  a chainsaw operator and a native of Egyaa Number  ‘2’  in the Central  Region.

She said, they both had  children from their previous relationships, who were living with them but  they had misunderstandings over their  step children , and as a result,  Kyerewaa threatened to evict Mensah from the house  at Italy street, Wassa Essaman.

DSP Adiku again said that, at about 6pm  two weeks ago,  the two returned from the farm with similar misunderstanding which was not resolved, so on Sunday, October 17,  Akua  Kyerewaa was found dead in a bush, about 100 metres away from their residence.

“It was also realised that the boyfriend, Kwaku Mensah, had packed  all his belongings from the room of the deceased.” she said.

The Spectator on its Saturday, October 26, 2021, carried a story on the front page with the headline “Dirty” slap lands chainsaw operator in trouble”.

From Clement Adzei Boye, Sekondi