•Court sentences wife killer to death
HE held on to a Bible in the dock with his lips moving silently in prayers as Justice Lateefa Okunnu of an Ikeja High Court in Lagos delivered judgment on his case.
Clad in a white short sleeve shirt and a pair of black trousers, Akolade Arowolo collapsed in the dock when Justice Okunnu sentenced him to death for the murder of his banker wife, Titilayo Omozoje.
Arowolo, according to an autopsy report, stabbed Omozoje 76 times till she died.
As he fell in the dock, he started shouting “Jesus, why? I did not do it. What would happen to Olamide?
The couple, who was said to have had a thorny marital life less than two years into their marriage before the unfortunate incident of June 24, 2011 at their 8, Akindeinde Street, Isolo, Lagos residence, had a child, Olamide.
Reports have it that the deceased had, on over 10 occasions, moved out of Arowolo’s house to her parents’ after each assault, but each time she went back to her husband who usually pleaded for her return.
Unable to control his anger that fateful day, which incidentally was his birthday, the convict inflicted multiple injuries on his wife’s chest and abdomen with a knife.
From the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, including a co-tenant, Adewale Adeyemi and the security man, Saidu Husseni, Arowolo had blood stains on him and was seen washing them off before he drove out in his car.
Unlike other murder cases that took years to be concluded, Arowolo’s matter ended in 31 months.
The trial, which had 15 prosecution and five defence witnesses, was on seven different occasions stalled; five at the instance of the prosecution and two as a result of hitches from the defence.
It started with his first arraignment at a Yaba Magistrates’ Court on July 7, 2011, and was subsequently remanded in prison custody pending legal advice from the State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
By December 21, 2011, the case was transferred to Justice Okunnu’s court, where he was arraigned on one count charge of murder, which Arowolo pleaded not guilty.
Following the gravity of the offence and the overwhelming evidence against him, the court refused to grant him bail and adjourned the matter for trial.
The case was stalled on January 17, 2012, as a result of the absence of the deceased’s father, George Oyakhire, who was the first prosecution witness.
Justice Okunnu begun trial on February 7, 2012, with Oyakhire and the deceased’s sister, Ijeh, disclosing that the union of Arowolo and the late Titilayo had been full of domestic violence. The court was told of how the deceased’s father, who resides in Kano, had warned the late banker never to return to Arowolo’s house after she came back home for the last time before her death.
While testifying, Adeyemi told the court how he heard a loud noise and also saw the convict rushed out of the house with a deep cut on his palm.
The couple’s landlord, Julius Akinloye disclosed that another tenant told him that he saw Arowolo jumping from the balcony of his apartment on the day of the incident.
In the course of the trial, the deceased’s step mother, Adetoun Oyakhire testified that the deceased was planning to divorce her husband before she was killed.
One of the deceased’s sisters, Folake, also testified how she discovered Titilayo’s lifeless body.
Justice Okunnu admitted exhibits such as kitchen knife, four mobile phones and crime scene photographs from the prosecution with another witness, Titus Ogbonna, from the Homicide Section, State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Panti, Yaba, telling the court how a N100 note, stained with blood, was recovered from Arowolo’s Honda Car and tendered as exhibit.
Admitted also, were blood soaked pair of jeans short; blood soaked bed sheet and a pillow case; hammer; frying spoon; a spatula and Arowolo’s MTN call log between June 1 and July 26, 2011.
By November 29, 2012, the prosecution had closed its case and the defence opened theirs.
The defendant’s father, Mudasiru Arowolo, who commenced testimony for the defence, claimed his son did not kill Titilayo as alleged.
He said the deceased had once threatened to kill her husband and herself during a quarrel, which happened when they visited him. He also accused the deceased’s parents of undue interference in the couple’s marriage.
In her testimony, the convict’s mother, Mrs. Bolanle claimed that Titilayo was rude and troublesome while her son was God-fearing.
After five witnesses had testified in favour of Arowolo, the convict was put in the witness dock to give his side of the story. He claimed that ego and immaturity ruined his home.
He claimed he did not kill his wife, adding that she died after an accidental fall on a knife she used in stabbing him.
At the end of trial, both the prosecution and defence adopted their final written addresses. While the prosecution prayed for Arowolo’s conviction, the defence counsel urged the court to dismiss the charge.
However, Justice Okunnu in her judgment held that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently sentenced Arowolo to death.
She based her judgement on three key issues, which are whether the victim was dead; whether the accused person was responsible for the act and whether he carried it out intentionally and found him guilty of all.
