A Magistrate Court in Tema has ordered the forensic analysis of the semen of Christian Agyei, 22, the houseboy of the slain Public Affairs and Marketing Manager of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).
In addition, the fingerprint and footprint of the accused person would also be analyzed as part of plans to identify bodily fluids the police found at the crime scene where the 49-year-old Josephine Tanor Asante was killed.
The prosecution made the request for the samples to be taken to the laboratory for forensic analysis when the houseboy was arraigned before the court, presided over by Akosua Anorkyeawa Adjepong for the first time since the gruesome murder of the top GPHA official.
The accused, whose plea was not taken, has been provisionally charged with murder and would reappear in court on January 31.
According to police investigators, there were traces of semen on the private part of the deceased and they would not rule out sexual assault in the case.
Apart from the semen, the police also said they found gunshot wounds at the back of her head, stating that the assailants might have suffocated her with a pillowcase.
Information gathered indicated that the police also found cuts on her chin, forehead, right eyebrow and other parts of her body, with blood oozing from her mouth, ear and nose.
The prosecutor, Inspector Beatrice Aryee, told the court that Josephine Tanor Asante resided at Block E2, Emefs Estate with her husband, Kwame Asare, 12-year-old son and the houseboy, who lives in the boy’s quarters.
In December, 2018, the husband of the deceased, travelled to the United Kingdom on a visit.
On January 12, 2019, the deceased attended an end-of-year party organized by GPHA at the Senior Club Staff House, Community 6, Tema.
At the close of the party at about 11:30 pm, the official driver of Josephine drove her in her personal Mercedes Benz saloon car.
The driver later alighted at Michel Camp Bus Stop for her to continue the journey home.
Josephine, according to the prosecution, upon arrival, the houseboy met her and took a polythene bag she was holding to the kitchen and left to sleep in his room at the boys’ quarters.
The accused could not confirm the time of arrival of the deceased and whether there was someone in the deceased’s Mercedes Benz salon car, the prosecutor said.
The prosecution stated that the accused claimed that at about 3:30 am, he woke up due to ‘unusual’ shouts.
He said when he came out, he saw the rear of a male in black shirt and a pair of jeans running through the living room to the main gate of the house.
The 12-year-old son of the deceased reportedly woke up and together with the accused person, they conducted a search in the house but nothing was found and they went back to sleep.
On January 13, 2018 at about 8:30 am, an attempt to open the door of the room of the deceased was unsuccessful.
The son of the deceased called the driver of his late mother and told him about happenings in the house and he rushed to the house of the deceased.
Upon entering the house, the driver found a bunch of keys allegedly used in opening the main gate to the house at the entrance.
The key was then used to open the bedroom of the deceased who was found in supine position in a pool of blood on the floor.
Crime scene investigators later found a swap of semen, foot and fingerprints which were lifted for analysis and examination.
The prosecutor said the police investigators saw the houseboy burying a polythene bag containing an amount of GH¢430 close to the boys’ quarters in the house.
The police also found the wrist watch of the deceased in the polythene bag.
