Man sentenced to death by hanging for killing neighbour over a pair of canvass

A suspected murderer, Mr. Eto Paul Ufuoma, has been sentenced to death by hanging for murdering his neighbour, Mr. Julius Oforofuo, on June 12, 2000, by a Delta State High Court, Warri.

For lack of evidence linking them to the offence, the Presiding Judge, Justice Marshall Mukoro, who handed down the sentence acquitted and discharged Samson Edorh and Akpoghene Edeno.

A minor disagreement with the deceased over a pair of canvass shoes kept in the deceased’s custody by the convict’s elder brother led to the gruesome killing.

Ufuoma, said to be an Accountancy student at the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, was said to be in the habit of wearing his elder brother’s clothes and shoes without his consent, a situation that made him to keep his apparel in the deceased’s custody to prevent Ufuoma from getting easy access to it.

But trouble was said to have started when the late Oforofuo on the fateful day stormed his apartment and forcibly demanded for the release of the canvass shoes.

The deceased’s refusal to produce the said shoes led to a brawl, which was later settled by neighbours, who pleaded with the convict for calm.

Not satisfied, Ufuoma was said to have staged a comeback in the evening and attacked the deceased who was bathing in a public bathroom at the time.

The assailant attacked the defenceless Oforofuo with broken bottles and stabbed him severally in different parts of his body. Oforofuo bleeded profusely and was later confirmed dead at the Oleh General Hospital where he was rushed to for medical attention.