Justice Oluwatoyin Abodunde has sentenced one Tunmise Abraham to death three years after killing his landlady, Bukola Olanrewaju, in Olorunda area of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.
Newsafresh reports that the Ekiti State Police Command arrested 39-year-old Tunmise for raping the deceased before killing her and escaping to Ondo State on August 22, 2019.
Speaking to our correspondent immediately after his arrest, Tunmise said the deceased usually called him names like stammerer and lunatic, but he had actually gone to her on the fateful day to collect the balance of his house rent before a fight ensued.
” I wanted to collect my balance because I was planning to leave the house, but a fight ensued and she scratched me with her fingernails. I left and came back to see her holding a stick, so I collected the stick and hit her with it.
”I didn’t rape her as alleged. I was trying to tie her hands so that she could calm down but she held her pant to hide both hands. It was when I tried removing her hands that the pant tore,’ he had said.
During trial, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Julius Ajibare, called four witnesses to establish his case.
Delivering judgment, Justice Abodunde convicted the accused person of murder and subsequently sentenced him to death by hanging.