A Fort Bend County jury ruled a
Nigerian immigrant was guilty in the 2015 stabbing death of his fiancé on
Friday.
Osa Alohaneke, 59, was living in
an area of southwest Houston located in Fort Bend County with his fiancé,
52-year-old Evelyne Ebane Epiepang, when he allegedly attacked her and her
friend, Veronica Taku, with a kitchen knife. Alohaneke was charged with
first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors
acquitted Alohaneke of the assault charges.
Epiepang was stabbed more than 30
times and died as she called 911 operators for help. Screams echoed in the
courtroom when prosecutors played the 911 call for the jurors last week.
When police arrived, Alohaneke
was on the phone with his attorney, his arms covered in blood to his elbows,
assistant District Attorney Amanda Bolin told jurors during her closing
statement.
"His mission was pain and
devastation and he accomplished is mission," Bolin said.
During his closing arguments,
defense attorney Eric Ashford pointed out weaknesses in the case against
Alohaneke, many of which he said were caused by a haphazard investigation by
the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department.
"Was this case taken
seriously by investigators? They didn't even do the forensic analysis needed to
determine the murder weapon," Ashford told jurors and pointed out
detectives took several knives from the scene but no testing was done to figure
out which was used in the murder.
In addition, detectives took
Alahoneke's clothes when he was arrested but never tested them for blood. DNA
and fingernail scrapings taken from the victim were also never tested for DNA
or blood evidence, Ashford said. Also, Alahoneke's phone was taken by
detectives but jurors were never shown texts as proof he was involved in the
murder. Ashford also attacked the credibility of Taku, the only witness to the
alleged murder who testified she saw Alohaneke "turn white like a ghost
after the murder."
"This could have been a
hallucination," Ashford told jurors. "But, did detectives investigate
Taku's mental status? No, during testimony they said they didn't think it was
important."
Jurors deliberated 13 hours
before returning with their unanimous decision shortly before 5 p.m. Friday,
Jan. 19.
Alohaneke look down and showed no
emotion when the verdict was read in court.
Jurors are now tasked with
deciding the penalty phase of the trial. Alohaneke now faces a sentence of five
to 99 years or life in prison.
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