For 12,000 Ghana cedis a 34-year-old farmer at Bechem in Brong Ahafo Region allegedly severed the head of an eight-year-old boy, Emmanuel Agyei for sale to a spiritualist at Enchi in the Western Region.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Emmanuel Lartey-Lawson, Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Crime Officer told Ghana News Agency in Sunyani that the suspect Thomas Kwame Amponsah, had been placed in police custody to assist in investigations and would appear before court soon.
He said the suspect who formerly resided at Bechem left for Enchi to undertake farming but returned about three months ago after a deal with Yaro, a spiritualist to get him(Yaro) a human head for 120 million cedis
ASP Lartey-Lawson said on Sunday, November 4, this year Amponsah, a very close neighbour to the boy's parents invited the deceased to accompany him(Amponsah) to the bush for oranges.
He said the suspect on the way struck the boy's neck with a club, making him unconscious, after which he severed the head with a kitchen knife he had hidden on him.
ASP Lartey-Lawson said the suspect then wrapped the head with a black polythene bag and hid it in a travelling bag and set off for Enchi.
He said at Dadiesoaba, a village near Enchi, a witness in the case became suspicious when the suspect approached him and asked of Yaro, the spiritualist.
ASP Lartey-Lawson said the witness reported to the Dadiesoaba community police who arrested Amponsah and handed him over to the police at Tarkwa who searched the bag and discovered the human head.
He said during interrogation the suspect initially claimed he had the head from Dwenewoho, near Techiman but following an appeal on radio by the police for identification of the head, the deceased's uncle, Reverend Stephan Edward Aning went to Tarkwa and identified Amponsah as a neighbour at Bechem.
ASP Lartey-Lawson said it was then that the suspect confessed that he brought the head from Bechem and was that of the missing boy, Emmanuel Adjei.
He said the police at Tarkwa then handed the suspect and the boy's head to their counterparts at Bechem to continue with investigations.
ASP Lartey-Lawson said because of the tension at Bechem the police sent the suspect and the head to the Brong Ahafo Regional police headquarters.
He said Yaro who is in police custody at Tarkwa would be brought to Bechem to assist the police in investigations.
In another development, police sources at Tarkwa told GNA that the suspect Amponsah who was arrested at Dadieso near Enchi in the Aowin-Suaman District in the Western Region misinformed the police.
The source the suspect gave the name of the deceased as Kwame Berko aged 15 but an uncle of the deceased Reverend Aning who heard the news on air travelled to Tarkwa gave the correct name of the deceased as Emmanuel Agyei alias Koo Emma who was eight years old.
It said the incident occurred at Bechem and not Dweneho near Techiman as claimed by the suspect and he (suspect)lived at Breme near Bechem and not Mile 4 near Tafo in Kumasi, also the incident occurred on Sunday November 4 and not on Saturday November 3.
The source said the suspect threw the beheaded body in a bush after the act but suspect said it was buried.
It said the deceased was playing with his friends at Roman Catholic Cluster of Schools last Sunday at about 1:00 pm when the suspect called the deceased to assist him (suspect) to plug oranges and on the way killed the deceased.
The source said sometime in July this year, the suspect went to Dadieso to visit his uncle but did not see him and contacted one Yaw Ankonah a motor repairer for a loan but was refused.
It said the suspect alleged that Ankonah told him there was Yaro, a spiritualist who could assist in selling a human head if suspect could secure one for 12,000 Ghana cedis and left for Bechem.
The source said the suspect alleged that from July until the day of the incident Yaro usually called him on his mobile phone to enquire whether he had secured the human head.
It said the suspect a divorcee with two children, a boy and a girl decided to kill the deceased and after the act returned to Dadieso where Ankonah welcomed him and was going to inform Yaro but rather returned with the police to arrest the suspect.
The source said Rev. Aning told the police that the deceased went out to play but did not return until he heard on the air that he had been murdered.
It said the suspect used to send the deceased because they lived in the same vicinity.
The source said the severed head that was deposited at Tarkwa Government Hospital together with the headless body had been sent to Brong Ahafo Regional Hospital, while the suspect was sent to the Sunyani.