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were ready to conduct the autopsy, he joined them with the
defendant, his father and relations to the mortuary. At the
mortuary, he identified the corpse of the deceased as the body of
his daughter U;zoamaka Offer for autopsy. Later, the corpse was ;,
released to him for burial. The P.W.2 Mrs. Helen lbe corroborated
the evidence bf the P.W.1 when she testified that when the
defendant pointed the touch light, she saw Uzoamaka Offer lying
on the ground stone dead . The P.W.3 confirmed that post mortem
examination was conducted on the deceased and he took her
photographs which were admitted as Exhibits "M" - "M 6 " . The
P.W.4 - P.W.6 all confirmed the death of Uzoamaka Offer in their
testimonies before the Court.
It must be pointed out that the learned counsel for the defendant
while cross examining the prosecution witnesses did not challenge
th
the claim that the death of Uzoamaka Offer occurred on the 24
day of August, 2011 at Chioma Hospital Uruagu Nnewi. Even in
his final written address and written reply address on point of law,
the claim of the death pf the deceased appears to have been
conceded by the defence and so was not challenged . It is
therefore my -finding that the prosecution proved beyond
reasonable doubt that there was the death of a human being ; that
is , the death of Uzoamaka Offer. The second ingredient of the
offence of murder to be proved by the prosecution is the cause of
the death of Uzoamaka Offor. In a murder charge , especially when
there is no direct evidence of eye witness , the cause of death of
the deceased person is a fact in issue that must be established
beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution . Where the
prosecution failed to establish the cause of the death of the
deceased beyond reasonable doubt, the defendant must be
discharged .
SEE: REX VS . SAMUEL ABENGOWE (1936) 3 WACA
85.
RVS. OLEDIMA 6 WACA 202.
LORI & ANOR VS. THE ST ATE (1980) 8 - 11 S. C.
81 ~
Where there is no direct evidence of the cause of the death , then
medical evidence becomes a sine qua non . However, where the
cause of death of the deceased is obvious, and has been proved