The High Court in Wa has sentenced Elisha Mahama, the principal suspect in the murder of hotel owner Eric Johnson, to life imprisonment.
A seven-member jury on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, unanimously found Mahama, who was the Human Resource Manager at the hotel, guilty of murder.
Two other accused persons, Belinda Miller and Kweku Kombata, were acquitted and discharged.
The judgment brings to an end nearly a year of trial in a case that gripped residents of the Upper West Region.
Speaking to journalists after the verdict, the Principal State Attorney, Lawyer Saeed Abdul Shakur, who represented the Johnson family, said the ruling brought a sense of closure.
“I’m excited to an extent. The wheels of justice, they say, grind slowly. We may never get Eric Johnson back, but at least justice has been served,” he stated.
Background
Eric Johnson, owner of the popular Royal Cosy Hills Hotel, also known as “Jirapa Dubai,” was found dead in his private residence on February 11, 2024.
He had been stabbed and was discovered in a pool of blood the next morning, according to a police situational report.Police initially arrested several suspects, including Dookuuri Fausta, Braimah Kasim, Belinda Miller, and Michael Klugey, all employees of the hotel.
Two others, Favour Nuobe and Kweku Kombata, were later picked up on February 12, 2024.While the motive for the killing remains unclear, Wednesday’s verdict marks the end of one of the region’s most high-profile criminal trials in recent years.
Source: Metrotvonline.com
