Former footballer convicted, jailed for life for Abesim double murder

Richard Appiah was convicted by a unanimous seven-member jury and sentenced to life imprisonment at the High Court in Accra (Criminal Division) after being found guilty on two counts of murder in the deaths of two boys in Abesim, Bono Region.

The victims were identified as 12-year-old Louis Agyemang Jnr, believed to be Appiah’s stepbrother, and 15-year-old Stephen Sarpong, described as a family friend’s son. Police reports place the killings in August 2021 and record reports to police on August 20, 2021 that led to the discovery of human remains at Appiah’s residence near Sunyani.

Investigators recovered gruesome evidence inside and around Appiah’s home: remains and body parts found in separate rooms, one body or parts stored in a refrigerator, intestines recovered from a cocoa farm behind the house taken for forensic examination, and two bloodstained machetes retrieved from the scene. The prosecution told the jury that Appiah burned clothes and discarded intestines behind the house as part of efforts to conceal the killings.

The trial, which began in 2022, was heard before Justice Ruby Aryeetey. Prosecution called five witnesses; Appiah testified in his own defence and called his father as an additional witness. Appiah was referred for psychiatric evaluation during the proceedings, at one point declared unfit to stand trial and subsequently assessed fit to continue. Assistant State Attorney Nana Ama Adinkra pressed the prosecution’s case to the jury, asking, “Why would he burn the clothes of someone he had killed if not to hide evidence?”

The High Court imposed life imprisonment following the jury’s unanimous verdict on both counts of murder. Appiah was 28 years old at the time of the killings and has been described in reporting as a former footballer who played for Okumapem FC; some media also referred to him as a draughtsman or sports commentator, and the Ghana Institute of Architects clarified he was not a registered architect.

Defence lead counsel Theophilus Dzimegah publicly disagreed with the jury’s decision and told journalists he would file a notice of appeal to challenge the ruling. The trial record shows procedural interruptions during the multi-year proceedings, including adjournments, juror absences and reports that two jurors withdrew at one point.

The discovery of remains in a refrigerator and the subsequent forensic work drew widespread shock in Abesim and national attention. Key records remain unpublished in the reports: a full forensic/autopsy conclusion, the psychiatric evaluation reports that led to the fitness determinations, and whether a formal notice of appeal has since been filed with the court registry. The conviction and life sentence close the High Court chapter of the case for now and set the stage for the defence’s announced appeal and any further forensic disclosure.