The Appeal Court in Akure, Ondo State, on Tuesday adjourned for judgment, a case in the murder of a postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Timothy Adegoke, at the Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The three-man jury, headed by Justice Olufemi Akeju, held that the date for judgment would be communicated to the two counsels, Femi Falana, SAN, and Kehinde Eleja, after both adopted their written addresses.
Recall that an Osun State High Court on May 30,2023, sentenced the owner of Hilton Hotel and Resort, Ile-Ife, Dr Ramon Adedoyin and his employees, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, to death by hanging for Adegoke’s murder.
Adegoke, 37, was gruesomely murdered in November 2021, and his body was found in a shallow grave at a location close to Adedoyin’s hotel, where he lodged.
Earlier, the appellants’ lead counsel, Mr Eleja asked the court to dismiss the allegations and acquit his clients of the offence for which they were convicted.
He argued that neither the evidence nor the witnesses proved Adedoyin’s involvement in the said murder.
But the respondent’s counsel, Mr Falana, urged the court to affirm the judgement of the lower court based on the copious evidence presented by the prosecution.
He added that the pieces of circumstantial evidence proved that Adedoyin conspired with others to commit the offence, asking the court to dismiss the appellants’ appeal.
(NAN)
