A 35-year old man, Richard Tetteh, alleged to have links to the recent killings of women in both Lower and Upper Manya Municipalities in the Eastern Region, is in the grip of the police.
Information available to The Chronicle from the enclave has it that at least, three women have fallen victim over the last two months.
The investigation to unravel the mysterious murders started when on February 2, 2024 one Rebecca Tetteh was killed and her naked body dumped close to the bridge, over River Pawnpawn at Oterkporlu, on the Odumase Krobo-Asesewa area.
On that fateful night, Richard, an ex-convict, reportedly lured Rebecca from Odumase to Oterkporlu, under the pretext of securing a job for her.
He, however, led Rebecca like a lamb into the bush, killed and dragged the body under the bridge.
After committing the heinous crime, Richard Tetteh took the mobile phone of his victim, sold it at Oterkporlu for just GHS30 and used the proceeds to board a vehicle back to Odumase.
After some days, the family of the deceased got a hint about her murder and contacted the police at Asesewa District who had earlier gone to remove the body in a state of decomposition to the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.
In the cause of the investigation, police using the intelligence tools at their disposal were able to track the phone number of the assailant.
In early April, 2024 an 18-year old female disappeared from her home at Manya Kpongunor, a suburb of Odumase Krobo.
Her decomposed body, with breasts and private parts removed, was found down Aklomuase, also a suburb of Odumase.
On April 16, 2024 one Maku Tettehfio’s body, also in a state of decomposition was found on a farm at Sekesua, near Asesewa.
Members of the community who highly suspected Richard Tetteh promised to apprehend him for questioning.
By this time, the Eastern Regional Police Command had put together a joint team of investigators, led by the Regional Crime Officer, Akosombo Divisional Commander, Crime Officer, Odumase and Asesewa Commanders, ably assisted by the Regional Police Intelligence Department (PID) to go into action.
On Sunday April 20, 2024 the volunteers from Sekesua, as they promised, assisted the police and physically arrested Richard Tetteh from his hide out.
During the intense interrogation and at the golden hour of the process, Richard allegedly confessed killing the women.
The Chronicle’s dependable source in the police hinted that, the assailant, a jailbird, some years ago was a resident of Asante Akyem in the Ashanti Region, where he allegedly committed several crimes.
Along the line, he was convicted and sent to the Kumasi prison for robbery. Due to the seriousness of the crime he committed, the youth reportedly set his grandfather’s house where he was staying ablaze.
According to the source, his mother relocated to Odumase, where the son joined her after serving the prison sentence.
There, he was again jailed for one year for assaulting a lady.
Meanwhile, he has been remanded in prison custody to enable police investigation to continue.
