Nigerian Wife, Accused Of Murdering Her Millionaire British Husband,

[valteena]

African wife, 29, accused of murdering her millionaire British husband, 76, claims she was tortured before confession


- Mail Foreign Service

A young African woman accused of murdering her millionaire British husband during a holiday in Gambia has claimed she only confessed to the crime after being tortured by police.
Kate Artori West, 29, has been held in the country since 76-year-old William West was found bludgeoned to death in July 2006.

She led police to his charred corpse in the grounds of the couple's luxury home on the Gambian coast, two weeks after the businessman disappeared.
West, a Nigerian national, was just 20 when she married the then 70-year-old computer tycoon from Hastings, East Sussex, in 2000.


She has been held in Gambia for the past three years as her trial stopped and started.
But now she has now given new evidence, claiming she was beaten and electrocuted by police before she signed a confession.

West initially told police that five men murdered her husband, but weeks later she changed her story and admitted the killing.

Mr West died of severe head injuries caused by being struck with a giant pestle used in African cooking.
He was then set on fire and buried in sand in a black bin liner at the luxury beach resort in Sanyang.

After their marriage, Mr West drafted a new will leaving all his money - and a £750,000 home in Hastings - to his wife.
It was claimed the businessman had been planning to tell her that he wanted a divorce during their Gambia holiday.

Gambian police superintendent Aziz Bojang said in July 2006: 'She has confessed, and she is the prime suspect.
'The conditions of Mr West's remains were so horrible. His body was very badly burned.

'We are still trying to determine the motive for the killing and there is every reason to believe his wife would clearly benefit through his death.'

As the trial finally got underway at Brikama High Court in Gambia today after a series of delays, West told the court she had never written a confession to police.

Sitting before Judge Ngui Mboob-Janneh, West said: 'After coming back from Sanyang, then they took me to Palma Rima Hotel where there is a police station.'

She said that after arriving at the police station she was tortured into confession, adding that she had 'electric wire administered to her body' and was beaten until 'blood was coming from her mouth and nose'.

She then alleges that a man in a black uniform from the paramilitary police came into the police cell and beat her up.

She told the court: 'He (the paramilitary policeman) found me sitting and used his boots and pushed me until I fell down and then lifted me.

'I was crying and I did not see them until the next day and I spent the night in the dark room.'

She said that when quizzed about her millionaire husband she told police she didn't know where Mr West was.

She said: 'I was asked about the whereabouts of my husband and I replied to the officer that I knew nothing about him.'

West flew home to Britain from Gambia on July 4 2006 - the day after Mr West vanished - and then returned on July 19 to report him missing.

She initially claimed he had disappeared after popping into a cigar store on a day trip to Senegal.

Irish-born Mr West, who made a fortune from running his own computer business, was a widower when he met his second wife on holiday in Gambia in 2000.

His first wife, Doris, died in 1994.

According to friends of Mr West he was planning on divorcing his African wife and had planned to tell her their marriage was over during their holiday to Gambia.

A friend said at the time: 'It hadn't been going well for some time. The age difference was really beginning to show itself and William was totally under the thumb.
'He's said that he was taking Kate on holiday to tell her he wanted a divorce.'

The trial continues.

A case of "craddle snatching" gone wrong. He was going to ask for divorce then kaput before he could umm!!!. Why has the woman been held for 3 years without trial? I mean alledged murder is a bailable offence right?

[lateesha]

They married in 2000.
She is now 29
so she was 26 ,3 years ago when he died at 76
This means that she was 20 when she married him at 70
chai
I wish I were a man
why do we always get the short end of the stick?

[lateesha]

The tori don change small
you don clarify am with another link making my analysis useless
the girl na Naija sef
Oturu gbeke

[valteena]

Originally Posted by lateesha

The tori don change small
you don clarify am with another link making my analysis useless
the girl na Naija sef
Oturu gbeke

Come lateesha wetin "turu gbeke" about the girl being Naija. Abegi explain make I get your gist jare.

Me sef that age difference perplex me no be small o. A whole 50 years difference umm!!!. E for good to know how dem meet I swear for the 20 year old girl to come marry her granpapa. That would put the case in more perspective. Btw where the girl family dey? Abi she fall from outer space ne?

[LAGOS100PERCENT]

I think the law says not guilty until proven guilty. African Police system can be different and this is not to say the West are free of it though. Remember Guantanamo Bay, the British in Iraq etc etc.

As for this case, it is difficult to weigh heavy on one side because 'What If'?
She could because she has everything to gain and on the other side, she may have not because all fingers will point at her!
The Nigerian saying...The 'witch' cried yesterday and the child died today!
Let the rule of law take its course.

[LAGOS100PERCENT]

lateesha
grandpapa or no grandpapa...this must have been lof at 1st sight! This na serious thinking you know?
wetin concern agbero with overload..the 20 year old found lof and man found lof..so equation balance. shekina.
how old be your bfriend/husband? same age? make you no dey play inno for us.

[Austin]

First thing that came to my mind on reading the news - set up.

Don't know exactly why, but my experience from living in the country suggests that some people may plan this kinda thing to achieve multiple aims such as:
- Spite the "stupid" Nigerian girl
- Rob the man of his cash and valuables
- Inherit the property that would be abandoned eventually
And so on

I must say though, that Gambians in Gambia are generally peaceful people.
But like everywhere, some of them 'too open eye'.

[valteena]

Originally Posted by Austin

First thing that came to my mind on reading the news - set up.

Don't know exactly why, but my experience from living in the country suggests that some people may plan this kinda thing to achieve multiple aims such as:
- Spite the "stupid" Nigerian girl
- Rob the man of his cash and valuables
- Inherit the property that would be abandoned eventually
And so on

I must say though, that Gambians in Gambia are generally peaceful people.
But like everywhere, some of them 'too open eye'.

It is not impossible at all Austin. It says that the man left his millions to the girl in his will.

I mean his family members or friends would not be happy about that and might just set her up to make sure she doesn't get her hands on the wealth. But who knows for sure.

[lateesha]

Mr West died of severe head injuries caused by being struck with a giant pestle used in African cooking

The tried and true weapon for marital WWF
did she buy it in Gambia or she carries one around in her suitcase for trips.

[lateesha]

Originally Posted by valteena

Come lateesha wetin "turu gbeke" about the girl being Naija. Abegi explain make I get your gist jare.

Me sef that age difference perplex me no be small o. A whole 50 years difference umm!!!. E for good to know how dem meet I swear for the 20 year old girl to come marry her granpapa. That would put the case in more perspective. Btw where the girl family dey? Abi she fall from outer space ne?

Our women have respect for senior citizens
how did this small girl pound her "grandfather" like poundo yam in a foreign land.
It doesn't sound like what a Nigerian lady will do.

[lateesha]

Originally Posted by LAGOS100PERCENT

lateesha
grandpapa or no grandpapa...this must have been lof at 1st sight! This na serious thinking you know?
wetin concern agbero with overload..the 20 year old found lof and man found lof..so equation balance. shekina.
how old be your bfriend/husband? same age? make you no dey play inno for us.

I say tufiakwa 666 times.
His money was the attraction jare
take off the wealth,he's like any senior citizen driving 45 miles/hr on the interstate.
The type you want to give a hand at the grocery store.
can you imagine his wrinkled skin smelling of mentholatum on her 20 year old flesh at night.
I married in my very early twenties.
Nothing in this world would have posessed me to marry a 70 year old even if he owned all the condos in downtown Miami and Toronto combined.
I can assure you that she clenches her teeth when he hops up and counts sheep until she helps him down.

[OweEse]

BBC NEWS
Wife convicted of Gambia murder

A 28-year-old Nigerian woman has been found guilty of murdering her 76-year-old husband by a court in The Gambia.

The body of William West, of Hastings, East Sussex, was found near his holiday home in the country in July 2006 after he was reported missing by his wife.

His charred remains were found hidden in a sack, Banjul High Court heard.

Kate West, who had claimed the retired businessman had disappeared in Senegal, was given a life term and told she would be spared the death penalty.

Gambian Police Force spokesman Sulayman Secka said she would be transferred to the state Central Prison in Banjul for the killing of Dublin-born Mr West, who lived in St Helen's Park Road, Hastings, East Sussex.

Remote home

West had admitted his murder at previous court hearings in The Gambia, but later denied the charge.

The couple had been staying at their remote holiday home in the West African country at the time of his death.
IN THE COURT
Bryony Mansfield, BBC News, Banjul High Court

As Justice Joseph Wowo passed down the guilty verdict, Kate Atori West was expressionless, as she had been throughout the hearing.

However just minutes later, as he read out a sentence of life imprisonment, she raised her hand to her face and sobbed, then raised her hands in the air and collapsed on the steps of the dock.

She had to be helped to her feet by two female prison guards.

As we filmed her leaving court she shouted: "I am going to smash that camera; don't film me, don't film me."

One of the eight guards escorting her said: "Kate, behave", and they led her away.

West, who was a mature student, had claimed he went missing during a daytrip to Senegal on 3 July, 2006.

She said he simply vanished while she waited outside a convenience store while he bought cigars, so she returned firstly to their Gambian home and then to the UK to look for him.

Mr West was registered as missing when his wife returned to The Gambia and the authorities later alerted Sussex Police.

West initially told police that five Nigerian men had taken the 76-year-old from their luxury property in Sanyang and killed him.

Officers from Sussex Police travelled to The Gambia to help the investigation.

An inquest into Mr West's death in Hastings in May 2007 heard his wife later confessed to murdering him with a wooden pestle before setting his body alight.

The coroner recorded an unlawful killing verdict.

Police 'diligence'

A statement from EMD Law, the solicitors representing Mr West's brother Albert, said: "This has been a protracted and traumatic time for Mr West's family.

"They are pleased that justice has now been done and that Kate West has been brought to account for her crime.

"The family of Mr West have asked me to thank Sussex Police for their skill and diligence in bringing this matter to the attention of the Gambian authorities.

"The family hope that they will now be able to move on with their lives."

Defence counsel Lamin Camara said West planned to appeal against the conviction.

Mr Camara said he would prepare case papers to be sent to the Court of Appeal in Banjul over the next couple of weeks.

"She is gutted about being sent to prison for life," he said.

"She cried very much. She pleaded not guilty to the charge on the grounds that she firmly believed she did not kill Mr West.

"She did confess to the crime originally but we challenged that confession on the grounds that it wasn't obtained voluntarily."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...ex/8339806.stm

Published: 2009/11/03 18:46:12 GMT

© BBC MMIX

Click on the link to watch the video of Kate going to spend the rest of her life in prison.

[ISL]

she should have ran back to naija instead of Gambia....

[ikoyiesho1]

Nna that is the mistake, she for run come Naija, who send am go Gambia sef?

[ozoodoo]

I wonder what attract all these stupid men to these gold diggers. He had all the money in the world to rent (and throw away) as many of them as many times as he wanted. He chose to be a sucker in the name of getting married. The man deserved what he got.

[N.A.R.]

If you think the girl is innocent see below:

West, who was a mature student, had claimed he went missing during a daytrip to Senegal on 3 July, 2006.

She said he simply vanished while she waited outside a convenience store while he bought cigars, so she returned firstly to their Gambian home and then to the UK to look for him.

Mr West was registered as missing when his wife returned to The Gambia and the authorities later alerted Sussex Police.

West initially told police that five Nigerian men had taken the 76-year-old from their luxury property in Sanyang and killed him.

Officers from Sussex Police travelled to The Gambia to help the investigation.

So if for example any of you ladies find you husband missing when he just went into a store in Lagos, say Park 'N' Shop, so the next thing you will do is travel back to the UK or US to look for him? And mind you, you were right outside the store when he "went missing".

Then she said initially "Five Nigerian" men killed him?

[ISL]

I didn't say she was innocent....just would have gotten away with it if she'd gone back to Naija.

[OweEse]

Originally Posted by ozoodoo

I wonder what attract all these stupid men to these gold diggers. He had all the money in the world to rent (and throw away) as many of them as many times as he wanted. He chose to be a sucker in the name of getting married. The man deserved what he got.

Don't be silly! No one deserves to be murdered, especially not by someone they trusted and married for that matter. She is the stupid one as she should have waited for him to die a natural death which probably would have happened in the next 10 years or so. Now she will spend the rest of her natural life in prison thinking about her stupidity.

[agensheku]

Originally Posted by lateesha

I say tufiakwa 666 times.
His money was the attraction jare
take off the wealth,he's like any senior citizen driving 45 miles/hr on the interstate.
The type you want to give a hand at the grocery store.
can you imagine his wrinkled skin smelling of mentholatum on her 20 year old flesh at night.
I married in my very early twenties.
Nothing in this world would have posessed me to marry a 70 year old even if he owned all the condos in downtown Miami and Toronto combined.
I can assure you that she clenches her teeth when he hops up and counts sheep until she helps him down.

A proverb says the son of a robber opening a bank account is in undue haste,afterall his daddy may still take him to same bank for practicals!why would 20 year old girl kill 70 year old when with some little patience,she could have survived him by "giving him finish"(fun tan) every time he asks to play bedminton?now she s lost all.Hasnt she ever heard the old song KILLING ME SOFTLY!!

[agensheku]

Originally Posted by ikoyiesho1

Nna that is the mistake, she for run come Naija, who send am go Gambia sef?

she sent herself to the Gambia as a full grown adult.that country has a flourishing tourism industry and where there is good tourism,the flesh trade also prospers!