Cameroonian housekeeper to hang for killing employer

An Igbosere High Court in Lagos, on Tuesday, sentenced a 25-year-old Cameroonian housekeeper to death by hanging for the murder of his Nigerian employer, Miss Dayo, daughter of late Brig. Gen. Adekola Adeleke. Justice Adedayo Akintoye convicted Leudjou Joel aka William Smith after two years of trial in which Joel pleaded not guilty to a […]

An Igbosere High Court in Lagos, on Tuesday, sentenced a 25-year-old Cameroonian housekeeper to death by hanging for the murder of his Nigerian employer, Miss Dayo, daughter of late Brig. Gen. Adekola Adeleke.

Justice Adedayo Akintoye convicted Leudjou Joel aka William Smith after two years of trial in which Joel pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of murder.

In her judgment, Akintoye noted that, “All the evidence points to the defendant. I find merit in the prosecution’s case. The defendant is hereby convicted as charged and is sentenced to death by hanging.”

The 25-year-old convict was first arraigned on November 30, 2016, at a Lagos Magistrates’ Court before the case was transferred to the high court where he again made a not-guilty plea on January 19, 2017.

The Attorney General of Lagos State, Mr. Adeniyi Kazeem, who led the prosecution team, had told the court that the expatriate stabbed his Nigerian employer to death over her rejection of his request for salary advance.

He said the convict committed the offence on December 20, 2016, at No. 15 Prince Tayo Adesanya Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The prosecution, through its witnesses, said on the morning of the incident, Joel requested for a two-week salary advance but Adeleke turned him down and that Joel got angry and stabbed the deceased in the neck and heart.

The prosecution said Joel was apprehended at the gate of the deceased’s Park View Estate home while attempting to flee.

The court heard that the deceased was found lying on the floor of her living room in the pool of blood with a kitchen knife found stuck in the left side of her chest.

However, Joel, a refugee from Cameroon, had testified that Adeleke mistakenly stabbed herself after she fell while pursuing him with a kitchen knife.

Joel, who opened his defence on November 21, 2018, denied killing Adeleke and spoke through a French translator.

During his testimony, he confirmed that before the incident, he approached his boss twice to pay him part of his salary to offset some hospital bills because his child was very ill in Cameroon.

He said the first time he asked for part payment of his salary was on December16, 2016, then the second time was on December 18, 2016, two days before Adeleke was killed.

He stated that on the day of the incident, after cleaning her apartment, he knelt down and pleaded with the deceased to give him a loan but she became upset and started shouting.

The defendant claimed that his employer pushed him, adding that she started beating him on his head and so he closed his eyes.