A Delta State High Court sitting in the Kwale Judicial Division has sentenced a 44-year-old man, Mr. Lucky Edozien, and his accomplice, 33-year-old Amaechi Enuebuka, to death by hanging for the murder of Edozien’s mother, Mrs. Janeth Odinuwe.
Justice D.C. Maidoh delivered the judgment after finding the defendants guilty of killing the 70-year-old woman at her home in Umudike Quarters, Ossissa, Ndokwa West Local Government Area, on April 13, 2023.
The court held that their actions violated Section 319 of the Criminal Code Law of Delta State, 2006.
According to the prosecution led by Assistant Director of the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Catherine Onoberhie-Oberuomo, the convict Edozien conspired with Enuebuka, a motorcyclist and part-time DJ, to murder his mother.
Edozien allegedly claimed he believed a ring worn by his mother was responsible for the difficulties he was experiencing in life.
The court heard that Edozien promised Enuebuka musical instruments in exchange for distracting the deceased’s sister, Mrs. Paulinah Okonji, by pretending to negotiate the purchase of scrap metal located behind the house. The plan allegedly allowed Edozien to enter his mother’s room unchallenged, where he strangled her to death.
Meanwhile, Despite the absence of an eyewitness and the refusal of Mrs. Okonji to testify, the prosecution relied on the “Doctrine of Last Seen” and police investigative testimonies to establish the guilt of both men.
The case, HCK/54C/2023 – State vs. Lucky Edozien & Amaechi Enuebuka, concluded with the court convicting both defendants and sentencing them to death by hanging.
