May 31, 2021
By: Audrey John
The first prosecution witness in the murder matter between Ibrahim Mansaray and the state, Mohamed Kamara has narrated in court that the accused told him not to show the police where he instructed them to dig and bury the deceased. Ibrahim Mansaray was arraigned before Justice Ivan Ansumana Sesay for proper trial on three count charges of Murder, Burying Human Body in a place order than the cemetery and Larceny in a dwelling house.
It was alleged that between 1st and 3rd August 2018 the accused murdered Massa Kaikai, buried her and stole properties worth twelve million, two hundred and eighty five thousand Leones.
Commencing with the matter, a total of twelve men jury was sworn after which.
The counsel representing the state J.S Tucker gives preliminary submission on his duty to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt and implore the jury to return fair verdict at the end of the matter.
Justice Ivan Ansumana Sesay further admonished the jury that the crime is a serious one he also said they should be disgorging any attempt of sleeping during proceeding in order to be able to pronounce a unanimous verdict. Taking the witness stand, prosecution witness number one Mohamed Kamara said between the 1st and 3rd August 2018, he was on bed sleeping when the accused sent one Zainab to take his phone number, requesting to talk with him. He said shortly after the accused asked him to go to bottom mango, Wilberforce with pick axe and shovel which he borrowed from a friend called James Bangura at Hastings.
Lead by state counsel J.S Tucker the witness said upon arrival at the bottom mango, Wilberforce. He met the accused standing near a taxi car and he ordered them to go at a house situated at Wilkinson road. He said they entered the compound and the accused entered inside and told the driver to dig a pit which according to him will be use dump waste.
Explaining further the witness said after digging the pit the accused gave them the sum of fifty thousand Leones each and told him not to tell his wife about what happen. “When I reached home I explain to my wife about the job which the accused instructed me to do because I was scared” He stated.
The witness said one year after he was walking along the road at hasting when he saw the accused fettered accompanied by some men on plain cloth. He said as they get close to him, the accused told him that he had a matter with the police because the lady he was driving has disappeared.
Mr. Kamara told the court that he was behind them until they reached the house of his mother in law and search for the properties of the diseased. In continuation, the witness said he was at the criminal investigations department (CID) where officers ordered him to accompany them to the compound where he met a banana tree had already grown on the spot he once dug. He also said he identified the area he was instructed to dig by the accused and after consolidations he went with the police and Dr Simeon Owiss Koroma, the Pathologist to redig the place where several parts of human bones were discovered. “Whiles they were digging I wanted to run, but the police and the doctor advised me to stay calm,’’ Mr. Kamara stated. Narrating further, the witness said the corpse was removed from the pit, placed in a body bag and conveyed to Connaught mortuary. At CID, the accused told me not to show the police where he instructed them to dig, the witness said. The witness continued that the accused was taken to the compound to identify where they dug but he refused. The witness said he was asked to make statement by the CID officers after transferred to an open detention. A photo of the deceased was identified by the witness. At the end of his testimony, the court adjourned to 2nd June for defense counsel Cecilia Tucker to cross examine the witness.