Effort Dankwa was convicted of attempted murder for shooting his pregnant wife while she was sleeping by a seven-person jury.
On August 29, 2015, Benita Dankwa awoke “feeling like a balloon” and soon discovered she was paralyzed. The couple’s mattress later contained a gunshot that had been fired at close range through her chest.
Effort Dankwa, her husband, was the main suspect.
Following an initial 4-3 “guilty” finding, the jury, which consisted of six males and a woman, returned a 5-2 guilty verdict. The judge clarified that a unanimous vote was not necessary if the offence did not carry the death penalty. Yet in order to find someone guilty, the vote must be at least 5-2.
The jury went back and quickly came back with a 5-2 decision.
At the first verdict, Effort Dankwa’s face lit up, but as the second verdict was read by the female juror, her face became blank.
He should be held by the police until his sentencing on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, the judge ruled.
Benita Dankwa’s parents expressed their satisfaction that justice had finally been carried out on behalf of their daughter, who was left paralyzed from the chest down.
The jury’s decision was made seven years after Effort, who was 36 at the time, was detained after police identified him as the main suspect in an assault on his wife, Benita Dankwa, who was 29 at the time.
She thought her spouse was trying to kill her when he shot her in the chest.
Although the attack did not kill her, it paralyzed her and prevented her from naturally passing pee or faeces.
Her husband neglected to mention that she had been shot, thus she was first transferred to the Tema General Hospital. She was sent to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital by the medical staff at Tema General Hospital after they discovered the gunshot wound.
After being briefly held and freed on bond, he was arrested. Manasseh Azure Awuni was informed about the situation by a family friend who feared that the case would result in death. Awuni then made a documentary about it that surprised many Ghanaians.
Rearrested and accused of attempted murder, Effort Dankwa. He refuted the charge and said that some armed robbers from Ashaiman may have been the perpetrators of the shooting.
Inquiries revealed that there had been no break-in on the night of the attack and that Benita had just spent the night with her husband.
As police investigations revealed that Effort Dankwa was the main suspect in an assault on his wife, he was detained in 2016.
Benita informed the court during the proceedings that she believed her better half committed the conduct because he did not want a kid.
A day after the incident, Effort Dankwa is said to have requested his wife’s cousin Priscilla to clean up the crime scene, according to court records.
Priscilla claimed to have discovered a blood-soaked towel tucked under the bed as she was performing the task. She claimed that because Effort had always used the towel for bathing, she was able to recognize the owner of it right away.
Priscilla described the towel as being green with three red dolls and flowers etched on it. She claims that when she showed the accused the bloodied towel, he urged her to throw it away.
