By Saio Marrah
The second prosecution witness in the preliminary investigation into the alleged murder of a teacher from Providence Secondary School has told a magistrate in Freetown that while he didn’t see the accused schoolboy kill his 68-year-old teacher, he saw him enter the late man’s house.
Ibrahim Mansaray told Magistrate Mark Ngegba that the accused Aroun Conteh was the only person he saw entering the home of the late Gilis Edwin Ola Johnson on the day he was killed.
Under cross-examination by Lawyer Emmanuel T. Koroma on Tuesday 30th May 2023, the witness described himself as a neighbor to the slain teacher and noted that the late man was a private tutor to the accused. According to him, at about 7 to 8 in the morning of 11th March this year, after the deceased had used the restroom, he [witness] left for his shop that is situated close to the home of the late teacher and he saw him watching football in his home.
Asked how he knew the deceased was watching football he said he could hear the commentary as he passed by his door which is situated at the entrance to the compound.
The witness told the court that after 1 pm on that day, the accused came by, greeted him, and asked for permission to use the restroom after which he entered the home of the deceased. The court heard from the witness that at around 3 p.m., he heard neighbours shouting that Mr. Johnson was dead. He said: “I immediately left the shop and went there and found him on the floor with his throat cut – I believe with a knife”. He said the cut was fresh because blood was still oozing and that two red and two blue pens were stuck in his throat.
Witness Mansaray said the deceased had been his neighbour for over two years and that their relationship was cordial. He said he had seen the accused visit the deceased many times before 11th March 2023, the day of the incident pointing out that the accused visited only on Saturdays.
The witness agreed with the defence lawyer that he could not tell if other persons went into the house of the deceased on that day but noted that he saw the accused entering the house.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (31/05/23)
