The Supreme Court of Ghana has confirmed the conviction and death sentence of Salamatu Karim, a woman who orchestrated the murder of her husband, Abdul Karim, in 2013. The case, which was initially reported as a tragic outcome of an armed robbery gone wrong, was later revealed to be a carefully planned killing. Salamatu Karim had told police that intruders had broken into their home in ACP Estates, Pokuase, and attacked her husband while she was bathing.
An investigation into an unrelated attempted robbery led to the arrest of Kofi Nyagbedzi, whose statements exposed a different version of events. Detectives traced and arrested Awudu Alhassan Sulemana, known as "Dozer," and Mohammed Sulemana, known as "Banana," at Dodowa. According to the prosecution, Salamatu, who was also Dozer's sister, had let the two men into the house, hidden them in the bathroom, and pointed her husband out to them.
The prosecution alleged that Salamatu supplied the weapon used and promised to pay the men once the job was done. She then helped stage the scene to look like a robbery by armed strangers. At trial, Dozer was convicted of murder and conspiracy, Banana of conspiracy, and Salamatu of abetment of murder. All three received death sentences, a decision that was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in November 2018.
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Salamatu Karim, Awudu Alhassan Sulemana, and Mohammed Sulemana, affirming their convictions and death sentences. The court noted that the trial judge had held a mini-trial to test whether Dozer and Banana's statements were given voluntarily before ruling them admissible. The Supreme Court delivered its judgment on 29 July 2026, dismissing the appeal in full and affirming all three death sentences.
The case details, reported by legal practitioner Joseph Ackah-Blay, indicate that the Supreme Court disagreed with the defence counsel's arguments that the confession statements should never have been admitted and that the jury was wrongly directed. The court also found that the combined weight of the confession evidence, the medical findings, and Salamatu's alleged role in staging the scene was enough to sustain her abetment conviction.
A post-mortem examination found that Abdul Karim had suffered a fractured skull and fractured mandible, injuries consistent with a sustained beating rather than a chance encounter during a break-in. The police had initially been called to the scene at about 9:35 p.m. on the night of the killing, and Abdul Karim had been rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The sources reviewed do not indicate any further legal avenue being pursued by the convicted trio, and no additional timeline has been given for what happens next in the case. The Supreme Court's judgment brings closure to a case that has spanned over a decade, highlighting the complexities of marital relationships and the lengths to which individuals may go to orchestrate harm.
Key points
- The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Salamatu Karim, who staged a fake robbery to have her husband killed in 2013.
- The case was initially reported as a tragic outcome of an armed robbery gone wrong but was later revealed to be a carefully planned killing.
- The Supreme Court's judgment brings closure to a case that has spanned over a decade.
