‘Abesim Killer’ Jailed for Life

The Accra High Court has sentenced Richard Appiah, a former footballer, to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of two young boys. in Abesim, concluding a case that horrified the nation in 2021 when the act was committed.

A seven-member jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict that Richard Appiah is guilty of the murder of the two children. The jury rejected the defense’s plea that the suspect was insane when he committed the act and had acted under a “divine” schizophrenic episode. It upheld the prosecution’s argument that Appiah acted with intent and lucidity.

The courtroom drama centered on whether Appiah, 28, possessed a “guilty mind” during the 2021 killings of 12-year-old Louis Agyemang Jnr. and 15-year-old Stephen Sarpong. Defense Counsel Faustinus Yirilabuo painted a graphic picture of a man lost to mental illness, claiming Appiah had previously eaten his own excreta and believed “spirits” forced his hand.

However, Assistant State Attorney Nana Ama Adinkra dismantled this narrative. She pointed to Appiah’s calculated efforts to cover his tracks—such as burning the victims’ clothing and disposing of remains in a cocoa farm—as proof of a lucid mind aware of its criminality. “Why would he hide evidence if he didn’t know right from wrong?” she challenged the jury.

The case dates back to August 20, 2021, when a search in Abesim uncovered a scene of pure horror: human remains stored in a refrigerator and bloodstained machetes. The discovery shattered the peace of the Bono Region and sparked a national conversation on community safety.

For the families of the victims, the sentence brought a somber sense of relief, and expressed gratitude to the Office of the Attorney General for ensuring the killer would never walk free again.

For now, Justice Ruby Aryeetey’s ruling ensures that the man behind one of Ghana’s most infamous modern crimes remains behind bars for the rest of his natural life.