PHOTO: L-R Slain German Juergen Schedema and one of his alleged killers, Emmanuel Kollie
-As police launch hot pursuit for six other accomplices in Monrovia
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Police in Buchanan City, in Liberia’s southern Grand Bassa County have charged and sent to court two suspects, who admitted that they participated in the killing of a German National on January 22,2020, as six of the other armed are still on the run.
The two suspects were charged with murder and they are Emmanuel Kollie age 38 and Joseph Cole commonly known as Joe Cole.
Murder, which is a first degree felony and a capital offense and it violation is in Chapter 14 section 14.6 of the new penal law of the Republic of Liberia.
The late Juergen Schedema, Manager of the International Consultant Company (ICC), was discovered dead early Wednesday morning, January 22 at the back of the log yard, which is located in Big Joe Town – more than a mile away from the port city of Buchanan, which is some 88 miles from Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.
Police IG Sudue has disclosed that out of eight armed men who raided the German citizen’s company, two have been charged and forwarded to court awaiting trial, while the other six are in Monrovia. And the police are due to launch a vigorous in pursuit of the perpetrators. If they cannot be found, the Liberian police chief said their photos will be placed at various locations and declare them wanted.
According to the Liberia National Police Inspector General, Patrick Sudue, suspect Joseph Cole admitted he fired at the German National. But Cole claimed that it was not their intention to kill him, because they can go on their normal arm robbery hustle without killing anyone.
IG Sudue said the two suspects also admitted that they went to arm rob without the intention of killing but the reason why they did not search the German National pocket is that they were afraid when Juergen Schedema dropped after been fired something made them afraid and escaped the scene.
The LNP boss added that the logging company has nine container bed rooms with four offices up stairs but a man working with the company gave them information that the company has money so he contacted those robbers to come and rob the logging company.
The armed robbers made away with more than US$11,000.00 from other people who they victimized before going to the company that night. The men revealed that they shared seven thousand dollars and the remaining amount was given to the man who gave them inside information about the company.
But police have withheld the name of the man in question who allegedly provided them inside information, because he is currently undergoing investigation.
Police retrieved weapons used by them to carried out the act, such as shot gun and seven rounds of bullets, as well as one telephone taken from one of the expatriates of the logging company.
On January 22,2020, a German National and Chief executive officer and general manager of the International Consultant Capeter (ICC) logging company known as Juergen Schedema (popularly known as Youkee) was shut dead in Big Joe town Grand Bassa County at 1:30 am GMT.
According to eyewitness Saah P-Early, one of the security officers on duty disclosed that about 1:30 am, the armed robbers wearing mask trooped into the logging company compound in Big Joe town. They came from the back of the company and entered into the building and first tied the four security officers who were at the front gate and took them into a room along with some other staff of the company.
Witness Early said they were taken into the room by the robbers they locked the door on them from outside; but luckily for them one of the staffs has spare key for the door and lacked it inside for their own protection.
The armed men then went in search of the General Manager Schedema and boost his door and window and him out of his bedroom and shot him on his left side and in his lower stomach and later dragged his lifeless body near an outside bathroom within the company’s facility.
Eyewitness account also showed that the robbers were only after the killing manager but did not touch any of the staff.
President George Manneh Weah recently said his government would do all in its reach to arrest and prosecute ‘armed robbers’ suspected of killing a German expatriate on January 22, 2020 in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, about 88 miles from the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
A statement on the Executive Mansion website says President Weah “extends his deepest condolences to the government and people of the Federal Republic of Germany for the brutal murder”.
He said police was working with local authorities to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.