The Kaneshie District Court has detained an artist, Joshua Kerry Arthur, accused of killing and burying Professor Amedeker Mawuadem of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW).

Arthur has neither pleaded guilty nor not guilty, and the court has decided to hold off on requiring a plea for now.

The accused is expected to reappear before the court presided over by Nana Abena Asoh Owusu-Omenyo on June 23, after his first appearance yesterday, June 10.

Prosecution led by Chief Inspector Margaret Ofori Boadi told the court that the 71-year-old deceased lived alone in a two-bedroom house at Gyahadze, a suburb of Winneba.

The alleged murderer also stays at Gyahadze.

According to the prosecution, the suspect, on May 21, at about 4:48 am, broke into the compound by climbing over the wall, attacked and killed the professor at about 7:30 am, after which he buried him on his compound.

The suspect went on to pack some belongings of the professor, including a 50-inch TCL television and a black bag containing the deceased's personal effects, into the deceased's Toyota Fortuner vehicle with registration number GX 2658-15, waiting for the right time to abscond with the stolen items.

However, he was unlucky to have escaped with the stolen items when a colleague of the deceased reported to the police about his inability to reach the professor throughout the day.

The prosecution said the police then followed up to check the deceased's house, only to find the presence of a stranger in the house.

After a search, the police found the suspect, Arthur, who had hidden himself in a guava tree on the compound of the deceased.

They continued the search and later found “thick, clotted blood stains and disturbed ground with visible signs of soil displacement.”

Further search at the spot discovered the body of the deceased wrapped in a blue academic gown, wearing a pair of black shorts with yellow nylon rope in his belt holes and a brownish shirt, lying in a supine position.”

The prosecution said the body was removed and conveyed to the Trauma and Specialist Hospital, where the medical officer on duty confirmed the death of the professor.

The court was told that the body had been deposited at the Police Hospital for preservation and autopsy. “Investigations are underway,” the prosecution added.