Five people, including a village chief, were sentenced to death by firing squad for the ritual killing of a 38-year-old woman. Baffour Twene, 52, his wife and three co-defendants were convicted Monday of murdering Lamley Sampa on Feb. 23 and using parts of her body in a ritual ceremony. Mrs. Sampa was abducted in the northern region of Brong Ahafo. The details of the ritual were not described during the trial. Twene and the other defendants were tried before a regional court at Sunyani, 260 miles northwest of the capital of Accra. Courtroom spectators applauded the guilty verdict. Court chairman K.F. Otu-Essel called the killing barbaric and said such practices must end. Two weeks ago, four people, including a tribal chief, were sentenced to death by firing squad in a similar case in the western region of Sefwi Bekwai.
