Mr Elisha Mahama, a dismissed Human Resource (HR) Officer of the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel, fondly called Jirapa Duba,i has maintained his innocence in the murder of his former boss, Eric Johnson.
Mr Mahama, who has been handed a life sentence by the Wa High Court presided over by his Lordship Justice Yussif Assibey after the 7-member jury unanimously found him guilty of the offence, insisted he did not commit the act. It follows an opportunity given to him by the court for his final words before he could be taken to begin his term.
In a humbling and what sounded like an apologetic voice, he said, “ I still maintain that I’m not guilty of the murder of my former boss, the late Eric Johnson. Everything I knew about this is what my counsel has put before you. I’m just a mere man and I can’t fight the law than to pass through the channel of appealing, but I shall put it before the Lord that one day victory shall be mine”
According to the girlfriend of Mr Elisha Mahama, Loretta Asare, who was earlier a suspect, Mr Mahama left home on Saturday, February 10, 2024, under the pretext of going to get some food but only returned at 2:20 am on Sunday, February 11, 2024, without the food with the explanation that he had forgotten to take money with him. Instructively, the suspected murder of Mr Eric Johnson was discovered on the morning of February 11, 2024.
The painstaking investigations by the CID pointed to the fact that “latent impressions raised from a glass wine shelf in the main living room of the deceased is identical in every aspect to the left middle fingerprint of suspect Elisha Mahama on his CID form.”
Also, “the investigative reports further indicated blood-tainted footprints had also been found to be similar to those of suspect Elisha Mahama on his plain sheet”
It also established that Mr Elisha Mahama was on the premises of the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel. This is because he made a call to Belinda Miller, who has since been acquitted and discharged on the coordinates of the hotel. The call lasted nine minutes.
Given that the death of Eric Johnson has been found to have been due to asphyxiation, strangulation, suspected homicide and severe blood loss, a ‘mysterious’ injury on Mr Elisha Mahama’s right middle finger on Sunday, February 11, 2024, also pointed to his likely struggle with the deceased. According to the witness and one Joshua Tabiri, the injury only appeared on 11th February 2024.
All these findings showed Mr Elisha Mahama as the key suspect who may have worked in concert with the others to execute the murder of the respected entrepreneur.
