An Enugu State High Court has discharged one of the two siblings accused of gruesomely murdering a makeup artist, Ijeoma Nneke.
The siblings, Chiamaka Ifezue and Chukwuemeka Ifezue, were arrested in February 2021 in connection with the alleged murder of the Enugu-based makeup artist, Ijeoma.
They were subsequently arraigned in court for allegedly forcing the deceased to drink a poisonous substance that caused her death. Read here.
It was alleged that Chiamaka allegedly lured Ijeoma to her home by inviting her for a makeup job. She thereafter allegedly conspired with her brother, Chukwuemeka, to kill Ijeoma for having an affair with her boyfriend.
However, the trial judge, Justice K.I. Okpe, in his ruling, discharged Chukwuemeka of the charges against him. The judge held that there was no evidence that he actually participated in the commission of the crime.
A court document sighted on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, showed that Chukwuemeka Ifezue was discharged from the crime on July 28, 2022, SaharaReporters reports.
At the resumed trial on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, the case could not go on as the defense counsel, Mr. Chuma Oguejiofor, informed the court that he had filed an appeal against the continued trial of the case.
The prosecution counsel, Mrs. C. C. Chigbo, however, told the court that she had not been served the notice of the appeal.
Consequently, Justice Okpe adjourned the case till November 30, 2022, for the defense to open their case.
The court in the last two sittings had admitted into evidence police exhibits in the case of the alleged murder of the makeup artist.
Chigbo led the Prosecution Witness 7 (PW7), Sgt. Udeze Oguguo, a police officer, in evidence to tender the exhibits.
Oguguo, who was attached to the Independence Layout Police Division, Enugu, said that the exhibits were recovered at the scene of the alleged crime.
The exhibits included five pieces of 20 British pounds, an iPhone 7plus with MTN SIM card, another iPhone device, and a blackberry phone.
Others are a broken 9Mobile SIM card, an itel phone, another black phone (no brand name), an MTN SIM pack, and makeup tools belonging to the deceased.
