A 25-year-old Cameroonian refugee, and houseboy, Leudjou Koyemen Joel (a.k.a William Smith) was, Tuesday, sentenced to death by hanging for murdering his employer.
A Lagos High Court in Igbosere ruled that Joel must die for fatally stabbing Miss. Dayo Enioluwa Adeleke, daughter of the late Brig.-Gen. Adekola Alfred Adeleke, on December 20, 2016.
The judgement brought to an end a two-year trial sequel to a not-guilty plea the convict entered when he was slammed with a one-count charge of murder.
The Cameroonian refugee had testified that Adeleke mistakenly stabbed herself when she stumbled and fell while pursuing him with a kitchen knife.
Adeleke was killed seven months after Joel was employed and three months after her engagement to her fiancé.
Delivering judgement in the case, Justice Adedayo Akintoye held that “All the evidence points to the defendant. I find merit in the prosecution’s case.”
The police had, on December 30, 2016, brought Joel before Chief Magistrate Oluyemisi Adelaja of an Ebute-Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, who ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody.
The case was transferred to the High Court and Joel was arraigned on January 19, 2017 on a one-count charge of murder, in accordance with Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Kazeem Adeniji, S.A.N., told Justice Akintoye that the defendant committed the offence on December 20 at about 9:30pm.
He said on that day, Joel asked for a two-week salary advance, but the late Adeleke turned him down.
The court was told that Joel repeated his demand later in night when the deceased returned from work. She declined and Joel became livid. In his rage, he stabbed the defenceless lady in the neck and heart.
After the dastardly act, Joel attempted to run away but was apprehended at the gate of the deceased’s Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The court heard that the victim was found lying on the floor of her living room in a pool of blood. A kitchen knife was found stuck in the left side of her chest. She was taken to St. Nicholas Hospital on Lagos Island, where a doctor confirmed her dead.
On November 21, 2018, Joel opened his defence and, speaking through a translator, he denied killing Adeleke. He spoke through a French translator, according to The Nation newspaper..
Led in evidence by his counsel, Mr. C. Acnonye, he confirmed that before the incident, he approached his boss twice to pay him part of his salary as his child was ill in Cameroon and he needed money for hospital bills.
He said the first time he asked for part payment of his salary was on December 16, the second time was December 18, two days before Adeleke was killed.
He stated that on the day of the incident, after cleaning her apartment, he knelt and pleaded with her to give him a loan, “but she became upset and started shouting and screaming at me. So, I thought it was the situation in her office that was making her to shout.”
He told Justice Akintoye that Adeleke suddenly stood up and began to speak a language he did not understand.
The defendant claimed that his employer pushed him and he fell. She started beating him on his head, so he closed his eyes.
He said: “I was perceiving smell of alcohol. When I opened my eyes, I saw her with a knife, then I tried to run away. But she was rushing towards me.
“When I got to the entrance door, I noticed that she was no longer running after me but kept screaming. When I turned, I saw that she fell on the floor, with the knife in her chest.”
