Posted by Amarachi on Wed 31st May, 2023 - tori.ng
Ojo, while delivering her judgement on the case, held that the circumstantial evidence available to the court pointed to the unlawful killing of Adegoke who was a guest at the hotel owned by Adedoyin.
A video of the owner of Hilton Hotels, Rahmon Adedoyin, in the Osun state high court after he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of postgraduate student, Timothy Adegoke, on Tuesday, May 30, has been shared online.
Adegoke, a former postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, was murdered inside a room at Hilton Hotels Ile-Ife, owned by , Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, in November 2021. Adedoyin and six of his workers were arrested and arraigned in connection to the murder. Read initial story here.
The court presided over by Chief judge of Osun State, Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo, found Adedoyin and three of his staff guilty of murder and conspiracy.
Ojo, while delivering her judgement on the case, held that the circumstantial evidence available to the court pointed to the unlawful killing of Adegoke who was a guest at the hotel owned by Adedoyin.
According to her, Adedoyin’s decision not to enter the witness box did not help him, as the circumstantial evidence had shifted the burden of proof on him.
Justice Ojo also said Adedoyin’s decision not to enter the witness box meant he agreed to the murder charge pressed against him by the prosecution, dismissing the alibi pleaded on his behalf by his counsel, who said the hotel owner was in Abuja for many days around the time the death of the late Adegoke occurred.
Justice Ojo, however, discharged and acquitted three of the staff, Magdalene Chiefuna, Lawrence Oluwole and Adedeji Adesola, while the seventh defendant is to hear her sentencing on Wednesday, following pleas by both the prosecution and defendant counsels.
According to The Cable, the judge ordered the forfeiture of the hotel and the Hilux bus used to convey the deceased to the dumping ground.
Ojo also ordered Adedoyin to pay the school fees of the two children of the deceased.
Adegoke had lodged in Hilton Hotels and Resorts at Ile-Ife upon his arrival from Abuja on November 5, 2021, to enable him to arrive early for his examination at the OAU Distance Learning Centre, Moro, Osun State, on November 6 and November 7, 2021.
He later went missing and was found dead buried in a grave following a police investigation of the hotel owner, Dr Rahman Adedoyin and its workers.
Watch The Video Below;