Matilda Omonaiye/
Port Harcourt serial killer, Gracious David West, who was arraigned in the Rivers State High Court yesterday surprised many by pleading guilty to killing nine young women in different hotels.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to attempting to kill his 10th victim on September 18, 2019.
He claimed that he never intended to kill her, but only tied her to a chair and left her in the hotel room.
West had first appeared before Justice Adolphus Enebeli on Monday without a lawyer representing him.
Immediately after his arrest last month, he had confessed to killing seven young women; one in Lagos, one in Owerri, Imo State, and five in Rivers State.
West had told journalists while being paraded by the police: “So far, I have killed five girls in Port Harcourt; one in Owerri, and another in Lagos. I started the killing in Lagos. I took N52,000 from the bank account of the first girl I killed in Lagos. Thereafter, I went to Port Harcourt, then to Owerri, and later returned to Port Harcourt.
“After I killed a girl, I collected her phone and sold it at Waterlines and the MTN office (in Port Harcourt). I met the last girl at a club in Port Harcourt.”
Speaking with journalists outside the courtroom, the counsel for the defendant, Vincent Chukwu, said his client’s guilty plea was not enough to convict him of the crime.
Chukwu stated: “The offence in question is a capital offence; whether my client did it or not, the presumption is that the prosecution must still prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. So, it is not for the defendant to just say I am guilty and liable and it ends there.
“Because the punishment is death, the burden is now on the prosecution to go ahead and prove its case and we are waiting for it.
“My client has a very plausible defence, which we shall open at the appropriate time. We had fruitful deliberations with him on Monday and we hope for the best in the matter.”
Justice Enebeli ordered that West be remanded in a correctional centre and adjourned the matter till November 18, 2019, for hearing.