The suspect, Richard Appiah, has been described as a friend and business partner by Stephen Sarpong, the father of the 15-year-old boy who was reportedly slain and his corpse dismembered and placed in a double-door freezer.
On Saturday, August 21, he told the reporters that he had no clue his friend would conduct such a heinous deed against him and his family.
After butchered body parts of a JHS 2 student were discovered in his double door fridge, the 28-year-old suspect is being taken in Sunyani police custody.
Louis Agyemang, the suspect’s 12-year-old stepbrother, and an unidentified body were also recovered in his residence.
Yeboah Asuama, Stephen Sarpong’s father, said,
“It was a Sunday when my son told me he was going to the canteen we run about 300 meters from our house.” But, sadly, that was the last time we saw him. We had waited all night for him to return, but he never did. As a result, the following morning, we reported the incident to the police.
“We had heard nothing about the police investigation until this morning when we learned that our next-door neighbour had murdered Stephen.”
“When we arrived, he [the suspect] had butchered Stephen’s hands, feet, and head and stored it in his fridge.”
According to him, the suspect, Richard Appiah, was a friend with whom he worked in the construction industry. A surveyor was the suspect.
“To be honest, the young man is a friend of mine. He came to my house only four days ago – I also work with him, he’s a surveyor – to tell me that the land he was planning on developing had sand and blocks on it and he wanted me to sell it for him, so I did.
“Just yesterday, the young man came to my house and told me that if he didn’t get the money by the evening, he’d sell it to someone else. And I informed him that I had already sold it and that the buyer would bring the money the next day.”
“So that evening, a friend of mine and I went to his house and gave him the proceeds from the sales. He gave us a receipt for $150 million in total. And he came to accompany us home.”
“Never, never, never – I had never heard of anything like this before, and I would never have suspected him. He used to cook and dine with my kids. They were also close,” he added.
Meanwhile, the IGP has directed the CID to provide technical assistance to the Bono Region police team in their investigation.
The IGP and his team are also scheduled to be in Sunyani.