MURDER OF BRITISH MISSIONARY,TWO SUSPECT FORMALLY COMMITTED FOR TRIAL

The two Ghanaians who are facing provisional charges at the Accra District Magistrate Court for conspiracy to commit murder and murdering the British/American missionary, Rev Sidney Thomas Barnes, were yesterday formally committed for trial at the High Court  after a bill of indictment and summary of evidence had been prepared and presented to the court by the Attorney General.

The trial judge, his Honour, Mr. Ali Baba Bature, yesterday told the two accused persons Kofi Seidu, driver of Rev.Thomas Barnes, (the deceased) and Rev Goodwill Padmore, an employee of the deceased, that after studying the bill of indictments and the summary of evidence, the two accused have a case to answer.

The court however, ordered the Magistrate registrar to prepare and transmit the committal for trial proceeding to the High Court of Accra.

“From what transpired and the bill of indictment prepared by the state, it therefore shows that these two accused persons have a case to answer,” the judge stated.

Sometime in June last year, the Attorney General’s (AG) Department recommended that the accused persons should be held for the murder of the missionary at Nsawam in 2010.
It said they should be charged with conspiracy to committing crime and Seidu additionally, charged with murder.
However, Issaka Mohammed, a farm labourer, who was arrested with the accused persons, should be discharged because there was not enough evidence to link him with the death of the missionary.

The AG noted that there was enough evidence to sustain the charges of conspiracy and murder against Seidu and Padmore, and asked the Police to take their statements and prepare a bill of indictment and summary of evidence.

However, when the case was called, a Principal State Attorney, Mrs. Evelyn Keelson, told the court that the state has finally prepared a bill of indictment and summary of evidence to commit the two accused persons for trial at the High Court.

According to the principal state Attorney, copies of the two accused persons investigations and caution statements have also been attached to the bill of indictment for committal for trial.

The two accused persons who have since not had a lawyer to defend them was however, asked by the court to state anything or if they so wish to state an alibi before the court commit them for trial.

According to the presiding judge, Mr. Ali Baba Bature, it was within the right of the accused persons to state anything in their mind, saying everything would be recorded and use against them in court.
Following that, the 1^st accused, Kofi Seidu raised his hand and narrated all what transpired leading to the death of, Rev Sidney Thomas Barnes.
He told the court that, on the night before Rev, Barnes was killed; he met the Issakah who has been discharged at St John’s near Achimota and picked him together with two other persons.
According to Kofi Seidu, Issaka Mohammed, the discharged accused person introduced and informed him that the two men are those who agreed to do the job that was to kill Rev. Thomas Barnes.
The accused further said, he drove the three to a bush area on the Aburi –Koforidua road and they left the two men there and drove to Airport and picked the deceased.
He said as part of the planned, he stop at the spot where the two other men were waiting in the bush and pretend that the car that he was driving with the deceased in had development a fault and got down.

That when he got down the two accomplices then emerged from the bush and attacked and in the process they killed Rev. Barnes and after that they called the 2^nd accused and informed him that the job has been done.

The accused said, it was the 2^nd accused who instructed that they look for a place and bury the body for it would be very dangerous to leave the body in the bush.

He told the court that, it was the Issakah who suggested that they should send the lifeless body of Rev, Thomas Barnes to his farm at Nsawam and buried him there to outwit anybody from seeing the dead body.

The accused however, stated that, after they had finished with the murder mission, they found only $3,000 from the deceased wallet and took it to the 2^nd accused person and he in turn gave him $150.00 and he also went and give it to the other accomplices.

He further said, the 2^nd  accused, Rev. Padmore promised him that the family of the deceased would send him some monies and when the money comes he would give him extra to fulfill their barbaric agenda.

The accused said he also left the LandRover belonging to the deceased with the 2^nd accused and left to his way until he contacted for investigation by the police.

According to Kofi Seidu, it was the 2^nd accused, Rev. Goodwill Padmore who hacked the plan  that they should kill Rev, Thomas Barnes for he was a wicked man, he has a lot of money and do not want to share with them.

But the 2^nd accused, Rev. Padmore denied haven knowledge of the murder of the British Missionary, whom he has described as his former boss.

He said, when the deceased was away from the country, he was always having contact  with him till  the day the 1^st accused suppose to pick him at Airport  in the evening on March 18, 2010 and never came back with him.

The prosecution case was that, the deceased, Rev. Sidney Thomas Barnes, 75, arrived in the country in 1997 as a Missionary from the United State of America.
That while in the country, the deceased established a Christian Ministry, known as Cross Road Christian Missionary Incorporated in Koforidua.
In addition to the missionary work, the deceased had a farm at Akwamu, near Nsawam, which was being managed by Seidu, while his private Secretarial Institution was handled by Rev. Padmore.
The prosecutor said, on December 27, 2009, the deceased took a leave to the USA, and whilst in the U.S, he constantly communicates with the employees, especially the 2^nd accused.
That on March10, 2010, the deceased informed the 2^nd accused that he would return to Ghana on March 18, 2010 by a British Air line and also asked the 2^nd accused to inform the 1^st accused to pick him at the Accra Airport.
The prosecutor said, on  March 18, the 2^nd accused asked the 1^st accused to go and pick the deceased at the airport , but according to the 2^nd accused , Kofi Seidu called to inform him on that day that, he was at the airport but the deceased was not on board of the British Airways passengers.
She said, from that day onwards, neither the 1^st or 2^nd accused persons heard from the deceased or received information about him.
The prosecutor further said, sometime in May 2010, friends and family members of the deceased in the US became worry about the where about of the deceased as they lost contact with him since the day he left to Ghana on March 18, 2010.
She said, all that while, the deceased Church in Ghana did not do anything or contact anyone about the where about of the deceased.
The state prosecutor added that, through the effort of the deceased friends and partners in the US, one Donnie Pouguine, an America who lives in Nkawkaw managed to contact the deceased Church in Koforidua and met the Kofi Seidu and Rev. Padmore who also said, they have lost contact with the deceased since the day he said he was returning to Ghana.
That on June 2010, Pouguine asked the accused persons to accompany him to Accra to lodge a complaint with the police.
She said, following that, the police commenced several publications in the newspapers about the disappearance of the deceased.
The prosecutor said, investigation revealed that, the deceased flied from the US on Board British Airways to London using an electronic ticket number 1257465295192 and arrived in London and checked in at Hotel at Helton.
That further investigation disclosed that the deceased left London on board British Airways on the sane ticket to Ghana.
She said, further enquires at the Ghana Immigration service(GIS) revealed that the deceased arrived in Ghana on March18, 2010 and check out at about 10:03pm
The state prosecutor said, based on that information, Kofi Seidu was arrested on September 26, and during interrogation about the where about of the deceased but he denied seeing the deceased on March 18,2010.
According to Mrs. Keelson, on October 4, 2010, Seidu confessed to the crime and stated among others that it was Rev. Padmore who persuaded him to kill the deceased for he does not want him to take away all the monies he would bring from the U.S.
That Kofi Seidu also stated that, after the deceased was killed they took 3,000 dollars from him and sent it to the 2^nd accused and he gave half of the money.
She said, on October 11, 2010, Seidu led a team of investigators from the Homicide unit and pathologists from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to Akwamu Amanfo, near Nsawam Adoagyiri, where he identified the grave where the deceased was buried.
The corpse was exhumed and conveyed to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Mortuary and on October 13, an autopsy was carried on the corpse, and the results revealed that the cause of death was multiple stab injuries, lacerations and haemorrhage.