Court orders woman who killed husband in sleep to undergo mental evaluation

The Koforidua Magistrate Court B has ordered a mental examination and evaluation of the woman accused of killing her husband at Aboabo, near Koforidua, in the Eastern Region.

The suspect, Ms Rebecca Lamptey, 45, is alleged to have hit her husband, Mr Michael Opey Lamptey, with a flat concrete grinding stone on the head, and was charged provisionally with murder at the court’s sitting last Tuesday and subsequently remanded in prison custody.

The incident took place on May 9, 2019 at Aboabo, near Koforidua, in the Eastern Region.

Facts

The facts of the case as presented by the prosecutor, Mr Hartford Osei, to the court last Thursday were that at about 7 p.m. on that fateful day, Rebecca, a trader, inflicted a grievous bodily harm on her husband by repeatedly smashing his head with the concrete grinding stone while he was asleep in their room.

Mr Osei told the court, presided over by Mr Eric Daning, that the complainant, 48-year-old brother of the deceased, Ebenezer Opey Teye, was engaged in his usual household chores in the kitchen when he heard a noise.

“He quickly rushed to salvage the situation, but the harm had already been done,” Mr Osei stated.

He told the court that a complaint was subsequently lodged at the Koforidua central police station.

“The police visited the crime scene where the deceased was found lying in a pool of blood with his head damaged and the face deformed,” the prosecutor said.

Mr Osei said the body was conveyed to the St Joseph’s Hospital in Koforidua.

“Through intelligence the accused person was arrested and in her caution statement admitted killing her husband,” Mr Osei told the court.

Background

Michael Opey Lamptey and the accused were married for 20 years. They had no children, which family members said caused the accused to be depressed.

Source: Graphic.com.gh