Ex-footballer sentenced to life over killing of two Abesim teenagers

By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH

A former footballer with Okumapem FC, Richard Appiah, the accused in the Abesim murder trial, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Criminal Court 1 of the High Court in Accra.

The sentence follows a unanimous guilty verdict returned by a seven-member jury in the trial of the former footballer, who was found to have killed two teenagers at Abesim in the Bono Region and stored the remains of one of them in a refrigerator.

The verdict was delivered after counsel for the prosecution and defence addressed the jury on Monday, February 25, 2026.

This was followed by a summing-up by Justice Ruby Aryeetey, who presided over the case.

The case stems from the killing of two boys at Abesim in August 2021. The accused, a former footballer with Okumapem FC, was charged with the murder of 12-year-old Louis Agyemang Jr. and 15-year-old Stephen Sarpong.

According to evidence presented in court, the bodies of the victims were discovered in a locked room in the accused’s house. One of the bodies was found lying in the room, while the other was found in a refrigerator in the house.

A pathologist testified that one of the boys died from strangulation, while the other died as a result of severe blood loss.

The accused admitted causing the deaths but raised a defence of insanity. Defence counsel argued that at the time of the killings, the accused was suffering from schizophrenia and did not understand the nature or wrongfulness of his actions.

The court heard that he had been referred for psychiatric evaluation and was at one point declared unfit to stand trial before later being deemed fit.

The prosecution, however, maintained that the accused acted with intent. State attorneys pointed to evidence that he concealed the bodies, attempted to destroy evidence, and joined search efforts in what they described as an attempt to deflect suspicion.

They argued that these actions demonstrated awareness and deliberate conduct.

The prosecution called five witnesses. The accused testified in his own defence and called one additional witness who happened to be his own biological father.

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