Murdered Atta�s Wife Weeps

It was a heartrending scene when Adwoa Serwah, widow of the late Atta Obiri Yaw who was allegedly murdered by his friend, Prince Adu Boakye, over GH�92,600, yesterday broke down in Kumasi Circuit Court One. The court, presided over by Amo Yartey, is trying Adu Boakye, the suspect, on the circumstances leading to the death of her husband. Clad in black apparel to display her mourning mood, Serwah, who was making her maiden appearance in court, could not hold back her tears when her late husband�s alleged killer, Prince Adu Boakye, stormed the court. Tears started flowing freely from the widow�s eyes and it took the intervention of well wishers that had thronged the court in large numbers to calm down Serwah, who delivered a bouncy baby boy about a month ago. The late Atta, 40, black market dealer at �18mu�, a popular Market, was lured into a secluded place by his business friend Adu Boakye, 24, who feigned interest in changing his GH�92,600 into US Dollars, but ended up shooting him to death. The court, for the umpteenth time, remanded the suspect into police custody to reappear on Monday October 16, 2009, after the prosecutor disclosed that the docket of the case sent to the Attorney General�s (AG) Department for advice was yet to come. Chief Inspector Fandoh earlier prayed the court to remand the suspect into police custody for a month, by which time the advice from the AG�s Department might have been forwarded, a demand which counsel for the complainant, Paul Adu Gyamfi, resisted. Lawyer Gyamfi argued that since there was no dispute over the ownership of the money, it would be prudent for the court to release the retrieved monies totaling GH�79,000 to the complainant. According to him, the complainant was facing some financial hardships including harassment from his creditors, following the court�s continual holding of the money. This statement touched the heart of the Presiding Judge who adjourned the case to Monday October 12,2009, instead of one month, to enable the court determine how best it could release the money to its rightful owner. Meanwhile, a man in his mid 40�s, suspected to be Adu Boakye�s relation, was nearly lynched by irate black market dealers that stormed the court, for making �an unguarded remark�. T he man, who was saved by armed police men stationed at the court to provide security, reportedly said Adu Boakye was not responsible for Atta�s murder and that the law would set him free. Before he could finish the statement, the black market dealers around pounced on him. Even though he managed to extricate himself, they gave him a wild chase before he was saved by the police. To avert calamity, the police placed the man in one of the courtrooms in the yard. He was allowed to go after the enraged money dealers were whisked away.