Peter Nwachukwu, the husband of late gospel singer, Osinachi, has been sentenced to death by hanging, having been found guilty of culpable homicide.
Recall that the singer died under controversial circumstances on April 8, 2022. A victim of domestic abuse, she was pronounced dead at an undisclosed hospital in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Nwachukwu upon being charged to court for homicide had initially filled a no-case submission which was dismissed by the Judge on the ground that the prosecution had already established a case against him
The prosecution called 17 witnesses to testify in the trial which started on June 20, 2022, and ended on March 10, 2023.
Two of Osinachi’s children delivered damning testimonies, even as the prosecution also presented 25 pieces of documentary evidence, painting a “chilling portrait of abuse and fatal violence.”
On his part, Nwachukwu called four witnesses and tendered four exhibits.
Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Wuse Zone 2, found Nwachukwu guilty while delivering judgment in the trial brought before the court by the Office of Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF).
The Federal Government arraigned the defendant on a 23-count charge bordering on culpable homicide punishable with death, criminal intimidation, cruelty to children, criminal intimidation of children, and spousal battery, among others.
Before sentencing Nwachukwu, his lawyer, Reginald Nwali, made an emotional plea for mercy, but the prosecution, led by Mrs. Aderonke Imala, pushed for the harshest possible penalty.
Justice Nwosu-Iheme handed down the death sentence for Count 1, alongside multiple prison terms and fines across other charges including “two years’ imprisonment for spousal cruelty counts and financial penalties totaling N700,000.
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