By Feima Sesay Christian Martin Kamara, the 3rd prosecution witness in the ongoing murder trial of Abdul Kpaka (accused) who allegedly killed his girlfriend, Sia Fatu Kamara, on Friday 11th October 2024 told the court what he knows about the matter. The witness led in his examination in chief by State Lawyer Yusuf Isaac Sesay before Justice AIhaji Momoh Jah Stevens stated that he knew Sia as his first cousin and the accused Abdul Kpaka as a boyfriend to the deceased. He further said on the 13th August 2024, he received several missed calls from his younger brother, Raymond Bami Coker, and other family members informing him about Sia’s death.He continued that, he asked his brother for their location and he told him that they were at Sia’s house Metchem, Goderich in Freetown. He stated that upon receipt of the information at around 3 pm, he left his house for the scene but while on his way, his brother informed him that they were taking Sia’s body to the Virtues funeral home at Kingtom . The witness said he later went at the funeral home . He said upon arrival at the funeral home, himself, Sylvester Patrick Kamara, Raymond Culker, the accused and other family members took Sia’s body inside the funeral parlor. He told the court that the Manager of the funeral home, Princess Wilson, received Sia’s body and she addressed them. The witness said the manager told them that she usually unwrapped corpses to know if that individual had any valuable items and she took a photo to indicate if there were any valuable items with Sia. “My Lord, when the manager unwrapped Sia’s body, it was so devastating because I saw a cut on her upper lip, blood stain on her lower lip, a red mark on her temple, swelling on her lower jaw, bruise on her chest, and knees, upon seeing this, I started crying,” he testified. He explained that upon seeing the condition of the deceased, PW 2, Sylvester took photos of the deceased, later, the three of them went outside of the funeral home and said what they saw on the deceased showed that she did not die of heart attack. According to him, the manager wanted to preserve the deceased but they asked her to wait and they later went to the Central police station and reported the matter, but they were referred to Adonki police station , Goderich because that was where the incident occurred. He said they went back to the funeral home at Kingtom and informed the family members to go home for a meeting. He added that the three of them later went to Adonki police station and reported the matter. He noted that they were later given three police officers, and that upon arrival at the house, they handed Kpaka over to the police officer for further investigations. He said that he and his brothers, including the accused, made statements.He said that on August 14th, 2024 the matter was transferred to the Lumley police station where he also made a statement. At the end of his testimony, he was cross examined by led defense counsel Emmanuel Teddy Koroma.The matter was adjourned to Friday 18th October 2024 for further hearing.

By Feima Sesay Momodu Rakib, a Nigerian Businessman who was arrested with 20 pallets of cocaine at the Freetown International Airport, has been granted access to be assessed by the doctors at the Male Correctional Center in Freetown where he was remanded in custody. State prosecutor I. A. Kamara told the court that the first prosecution was unavoidably absent to complete his testimony in the matter. The defense lawyer S. M. Kargbo informed the court that the accused person was complaining about his Samsung A71, Samsung S20, iPhone 15 Pro Max and a brown belt which he had no idea of where they were, to be restored to him. Kargbo stated that no other person had claimed the said items saved the accused who had been in custody. He made his application pursuant to section 59 subsection 1 which states that the court should return the property of an accused upon his or her arrest. Sulaiman Mohamed Kargbo argued that even if the court decided not to give his client the said property, he should at least know that they are available and safe. Kamara replied that the said items were not marked in the accused’s document and objected that the said properties were not before the court as exhibits tendered in court were only returned to their owner upon the the logical conclusion of the said matter which was not the case for the before the court at the moment. Magistrate Kekura having heard the application and obligation of both counsel ruled that the said items be brought to court on the next adjourned date to form part of the court’s record. The defense further informed the court that his client’s medical condition was not improving and applied that a medical examination be done on him in oder to know the medical issues his client was faced with. Kamara did not object to the application of the defense, Magistrate Kekura refused bail, granted the medical request and instructed the doctors at the Correctional Center to do proper medical examination of the accused. The matter was adjourned to Thursday October 10, 2024.