Witness says deceased went missing after party
July 24, 2015 By Hawa Amara
Third prosecution witness in the ongoing murder investigation into the alleged murder of Sydney Buckle a.k.a. DJ Clef yesterday told the court that the deceased went missing after he attended a party that was organized by the second accused, Avril Oredola Renner, at the Aberdeen residence of first accused Mbaimba Moi Foray on 22 May, 2015.
Claudius Conteh, who was testifying at the Freetown Magistrates’ Court No.1, tentatively presided over by Magistrate Mohamed Seray-Wurie, told the court he and the deceased were invited to attend the birthday party by the second accused.
He said the compound was full of guests when he and the deceased arrived at the party on the night of 22 May, and that he subsequently saw Sahr David Moisay and Tunde Idriss Scott – first and second prosecution witnesses, respectively.
Conteh said it started raining at around 12 midnight, forcing guests to go inside the house, adding that he came outside when the rain ceased. He said the deceased was swimming in the pool with other guests and he joined them.
The witness said the second prosecution witness told him and the deceased at about 3:00am that they should come out of the pool and go home. He said the deceased came out of the pool and went into a small room to dress while he stayed outside to dress.
“I and PW2 went into the room to look for the deceased, but he was nowhere to be found,” Conteh told the court. “The second accused was inside the room and we asked her the whereabouts of the deceased but she replied that the deceased had already left for home.”
He added that, “We still continued to search for the deceased. We also asked the security whether he saw the deceased walk out of the compound but he said no. Then I asked PW2 to leave, hoping that we could meet the deceased on the way.”
Conteh said four of them boarded a taxi at ‘White House’ and when they arrived home, they went straight into the room of the deceased but he was nowhere to be found, and that when the second prosecution witness called his line it was unreachable.
He said on 26 May, 2015 he met the second accused at Juba Hill and informed her that the deceased had gone missing since the party that day. He said he also met with the first accused at Quincy’s Restaurant and Bar and informed him about the disappearance of the deceased, but he did not respond.
The witness said they reported the disappearance of the deceased to the Aberdeen Police Station and that they were detained, adding that the first accused showed up at the police station subsequently and was also detained.
He said he only realized the deceased had died on June 1.
The witness was cross-examined by A.Y. Lisk and I.P. Mammie.
The matter is prosecuted by Director of Public Prosecution, Sulaiman A. Bah.
The accused are represented by O.V. Robbin-Mason, A.M. Kamara, and E.T. Koroma.
The accused were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy to murder and murder contrary to law.
According to the prosecution, between 15 April and 25 May 2015, the duo conspired with other persons to commit a felony, to wit murder, at No.1 Johnson Street, off Aberdeen, west Freetown.
The matter continues.