PHOTO: Medics had rushed to one of the scenes
By Garmah Never Lomo,garmahlomo@gmail.com
In the murder and torture case, the trial has opened in Maryland County of five men accused of murdering and burying a woman and torturing several others on grounds that they were responsible for the deaths of young people in the town in Picnicess, Grand Kru County linking a local Chief. .
President George Weah, who hails from this county, is expected in Grand Kru in the next few days at the latter stage of his tour of counties.
The case, which is being tried by the 4th Judicial Circuit Court, arises from a previous burial of a youth who had apparently died of natural causes. While carrying the coffin bearing the youth’s corpse, the coffin is reported to have hit two houses – something that led the accused to conclude that the two houses were hosting those responsible for the deaths of youngsters of the town.
It was from one of the two houses that the 65 year old woman was reportedly kidnapped, taken into the bush, before being tortured, killed and buried.
In open court, state prosecution’s first witness Comfort Wleh who is a prosecution witness, said said they narrowly escaped death from the hands of the accused explained that after the burial of their colleague that fateful day of April 16, 2020, when one (Lawrence Teah Doe) ordered that they be taken to the bush, where they were tied to sticks and beaten severely.
Youth leader Lawrence Teah Doe, 32, Paramount Chief Nagbe Wesseh 55, Koffa Fannieh, 26 and Disco Fannieh,26, among others, are charged with murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. They have pleaded not guilty.
But the witness says that while going through their ordeal, two men, Godfred Gipplay and Disco Fannieh took off her clothes and ordered one of the captives (Isaac Weah) to have sex with her, but they both refused to do so.
She said Gipplay then thrust his hand in her under clothes, pulled away a cloth she was using as sanitary pad, took off her lapper which they used to tie her mouth. The witness said after tying their hands and feet to sticks, they (accused) display a cutlass and shovel they said they were going to use to kill her at the same spot that Josephine Blatu was killed and buried.
Following that the witness said they told them they were going to be killed upon their return from where they had taken the other captives.
She said no sooner had they left than a heavy downpour with thunder strikes came during which they (she and Isaac) struggled and freed themselves and fled to Barclayville where they reported the matter to the police.
But Weah admits she didn’t witness the killing and burying of Josephine Blatu as she was taken to another location, as she was not occupant any of the houses that had been hit by the casket
Her testimony was followed by that of state prosecution’s second witness Isaac Wleh, which corroborated with the testimony of Weah.
He similarly spoke of being seized and taken to a beach before being led away to the bush where they were tied, beaten and tortured, accusing them of the death of young people in the area.
Weah told the court and jurors that “severely tortured by defendants for something we had no ideas about”. They were stripped naked by the accused who told him to have sexual intercourse with fellow captive Wleh; something he refused to do.
He said they made their escape to Barclayville after their captors had had gone to the other captives at the scene of the killing and burial of Josephine Blatu.