By Francis H Murray
Detective Police Constable 13974 Emmanuel Johannes and the 11th prosecution witness in the murder trial of Mariama Sajor Barrie and Ibrahim Bah for the alleged murder of 5-year old Khadija Saccoh has testified before Justice John Bosco Allieu and a 12 member jury.
Led in evidence on Tuesday, 23rd February 2021 by Lawyer Joseph A. K Sesay, the witness described himself as scene of crime officer attached at the Congo Cross Police Station but previously at the Lumley police station.
He said some of his duties include visiting crime scenes of cases under investigations, preserve crime scenes and look out for evidences, take photos of crime scenes as well as of other materials outside of the crime scenes.
He recalled that he was on duty in the morning of 20th June 2020 when Detective Sergeant 10745 Kargbo J. M asked him to visit the postmortem exercise on the remains of one Khadija Madinatu Saccoh in an alleged case of murder which was being investigated.
He said that he and the leading investigator as well as family members of the deceased went to Connaught Hospital for the postmortem exercise.
“Whilst at the mortuary, the pathologist and his team displayed the body of a fair skin girl and first opened the eyes and later the mouth where I observed a bitten tongue and a swollen neck. I observed black spots from the front to the back of the deceased,” he stated.
He added that the soft copy of the photos were developed and printed out and later arranged and stored in the photographic album.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Alhaji M Kamara for the 1st accused, the witness said that the camera is a property of the SLP and is used by other officers in the scene of crime department.
Challenged that he was directed by the pathologist to take photos of scenes, the witness denied having taken any instructions from him and that he acted independently, stressing that he only snapped what the evidence led him to, based upon the alleged matter under investigation.
He stressed that he observed some black spots on the entire back part of the deceased
Under cross-examination by lawyer Emmanuel T Koroma for the 2nd accused, the witness said that there are no dates and time on the photographs and that the photos were edited before they were printed.
Also, the 12th persecution witness Alex Nallo identified himself as a next-door neighbor to the deceased and recalled that on the 17th of June 2020, he was in his apartment in the morning hours when he heard a knock on his door which woke him up.
“When I opened the door, I saw the 2nd accused who said that his mother was not feeling well and I asked him why he didn't call me instead but he said he had called and got no response from me. So I picked up my phone and realized that he had called. We moved to their apartment and when we got there, I saw the 1st accused lying at the floor in her parlor while the deceased was sitting in the front of the door of the 1st accused,” he explained.
He said they exchanged pleasantries and he proceeded to the kitchen with the 2nd accused to prepare warm water with tealeaf for the 1st accused, adding that he went back to his apartment to call one Agnes Njajua who also visited the 1st accused.
He maintained that he had cause to later return to the house of the 1st accused where he met the deceased and the 1st accused that later sent him to buy Oral Rehydration Salt.
“On their way home, they heard the voices of people crying and while I rushed to the scene, he saw the deceased in the hands of Agnes Njajua while the 1st accused was crying,” he stated.
He said he later collected the deceased from Agnes and was about to take her to the 34 military hospital when the 1st accused cautioned him to take the deceased to the Lumley hospital as the 34 hospital was a treatment center for Covid-19.
The witness said that upon arrival at the hospital, the doctor referred them to Connaught but the 1st accused insisted that they take her to Choithram hospital where she was later declared dead.
Under cross-examination by lawyer Emmanuel T Koroma for the 2nd accused, the witness said he was treated as a suspect and locked up in a toilet together with the 2nd accused for three days without food and water. He said that he didn't suspect that the deceased was sick in any way and that the 2nd accused was very close to the deceased.
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