PHOTO: Convict Friday Bill Ziah (in blue coat) being escorted to prison by Correction Officer
By Never Garmah Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
BUCHANAN, Liberia- Bill Friday Ziah, age 25, the man who gruesomely murdered a Church Pastor’s two-year-old daughter in the ITI community in Rivercess County last year has claimed that he committed the act because he was demon possessed.
This is what he told www.newspublictrust.com on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at the Second Judicial Circuit Court here in this port city in Grand Bassa County, after the jurors handed down a unanimous guilty verdict against him.
According to his indictment, on August 10. 2021, defendant Ziah, knowingly, purposely, intentionally, maliciously and criminally under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, stabbed, little Hannah Pewee, a two (2) years old child, multiple times with a silver kitchen knife, thereby resulting to her death.
He initially pleaded guilty when the case was called on March 2,2022 but state prosecutors set aside his guilty plea and order the case to continue.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with this news outlet after trial jurors handed down a unanimous guilty verdict against him, convict Ziah said he ws unhappy due to manner in which he gruesomely murdered his pastor’s little daughter whom he used to take care of and even take her to service.
“I am regretting because of the way I killed the girl and I wasn’t to myself on that day,” he said
According to Ziah, he doesn’t take in drug neither does he take any substance but what came over him that day, he doesn’t know at all.
He admitted that he gave pastor Pewee L$52 thousand for keeping but he was taking it bit by bit and it remained L$17,000 which he asked Pastor Pewee for, saying that he didn’t wait for response from the pastor when he went ahead taking the victim to an unknown location and gruesomely murdering her.
“Imagine four handcuffs were placed on my hands and as you can see the mark on my hands, I cut some from my hands to tell that I wasn’t normal and neither in my right frame of mind,” the convicted murderer narrated.
Bill Friday Ziah disclosed that since the incident occurred, he has been in a very confused state of mind, because of the gruesome way he killed the child.
He said on the day of the murder, he was not to himself and totally out of order, saying that “I was asked, you want eat, you want money?” He said his response was no to all, claiming that he had been controlled by demon or some other spirit.
Background to the case
Prior to the murder, Ziah had spent seven months with pastor Yarkpazuah Pewee of the Amazing Fire Ministry church in Rivercess County.
During the final argument during the trial, Grand Bassa County Attorney, Randolph D.M.O Johnson prayed court to give maximum sentence to defendant Ziah to serve as a deterrence for people who intentionally take others people lives away.
Attorney Johnson argued that convict Ziah was in his right frame of mind when he committed the act and his guilty plea shouldn’t be used to give him minimum sentence and if the Judge do so, they will file motion to rescind his judgement.
Further information gathered is convict Ziah is he hailed from Nimba County but went to Rivercess County for greener pastures and since his appearance in Rivercess County, convict Ziah was taken in by pastor Pewee who took him as a son to him and provided him room including feeding until he committed that gruesome murder to his daughter.
As for the defense lawyer headed by Attorney Aaron Kartee argued given the gravity or the manner in which the pastor two years old was gruesomely murdered, tells you that the convict wasn’t in his right frame of mind but rather he was driven by a demon spirit.
The Grand Bassa County public defender requested court to take judicial notice of the case file and take notice of the statute of guilty plea.
Attorney Kartee no need to argued anything because his client his guilty and begged court to take into consideration these questions:
Atty. Kartee pleaded with the court not to give life sentence to the defendant because he was controlled by certain demon do so given that he has no prior criminal record but rather he should tender justice with mercy.
State prosecution produced four witnesses while the defendant waved his right to testify.
However, Judge Zuballah Kiziku assigned judge at the second Judicial Circuit Court in Grand Bassa County has set next Wednesday March 16,2022 at 10 am to confirm and affirm the Jurors unanimous guilty verdict.
The probation office at the Ministry of Justice has been given one week to do a pre-sentence report on the defendant character in order for the judge to make inform decision in sentencing the defendant.
In August of 2021, the Grand Jurors for Rivercess County indicted the defendant and said the defendant Bill Friday Ziah, “did commit the Crime of Murder, felony of the first degree, to wit”.
A beautiful 3-year-old child became victim of a gruesome murder, after a man allegedly stabbed her in the ITI community in
Liberia’s southern Rivercess County. This area is situated 150 miles southeast of Monrovia.
Police later arrested 23-year-old Bill Friday Ziah, alias “Bill” over the stabbing to death of the baby girl, Hannah Pewee.
Bill reportedly stabbed little Hannah with a knife 18 times on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 in the ITI Community near the Rivercess-Sinoe border, before escaping the crime scene, according to the Coroner Jury’s report.
According to the child’s father, Pastor Yarkpazua Pewee, Bill allegedly committed the act after demanding money from him. Bill was a member of Pastor Pewee’s church.
Below are details of the indictment:
The indictment further stated that the criminal act of the defendant to murder the deceased on the aforesaid date and time came did happen after the deceased father, Pastor Yarkpazuah Pewee returned from evening church services on that eventful day and met Defendant Ziah at his residence and decided to offer Defendant Ziah food, but Defenndant Ziah rejected the offer.
That after Defendant Ziah rejected the offer, Pastor Pewee decided to go in door and returned with the amount of L$500(Liberian Five Hundred Dollars), which the Defendant also rejected, prompting Pastor Pewee to return inside of his house to increase the money.
That while Pastor Pewee was inside his house to get additional money for Defendant Ziah, he (Defendant Ziah), raised a Kitchen knife against one Benjamin Gbar, who promptly shouted at Pastor Pewee, who was indoor not to venture out door, informing him that the Defendant has raised a knife to kill him.
That at this stage, Pastor Pewee was thinking that his two years old daughter, the deceased, was already in door ran into door, not knowing that she was left in the corridor and then heard Gbar shouting to Pastor Pewee that the defendant was running with his daughter, the deceased and they all ran behind him in the nearby bushes, but were unsuccessful in that, by then Defendant Ziah, has stabbed the deceased multiple on various part of her body resulting to her death and was arrested and turned over to the Liberia National Police in the area.