Osun State High Court has found Ramon Adedoyin, the founder of Oduduwa University, guilty of the murder case of Timothy Adegoke.
The court, under the ruling of Judge Adepele Ojo, sentenced Adedoyin, who is also the owner of the Hilton hotel, to death by hanging on Tuesday.
Adegoke, a postgraduate student from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), was murdered between November 5 and 7, 2021, at the Hilton Honours Hotel in Ile-Ife.
Judge Adepele Ojo, delivering her judgement on the case, held that the circumstantial evidence available to the court pointed to the killing of Adegoke while he was a guest at the hotel owned by Adedoyin.
She stated that Adedoyin’s decision not to enter the witness box did not help him, as the circumstantial evidence had shifted the burden of proof on him.
Justice Ojo also added that Adedoyin’s refusal to testify meant he agreed to the murder charge brought against him by the prosecution, dismissing the alibi pleaded on his behalf by his counsel, who stated that the hotel owner was in Abuja for several days around the time of the late Adegoke’s death. Mr Adegoke, a Business Administration (MBA) student, travelled from Abuja to Ile-Ife to write his examination. He lodged in the hotel, where he hoped to stay out the period of the examinations. But was declared missing by the police on 7 November 2021.
Few days later, the Osun State police command released a statement disclosing that the 37-year-old student was found dead. The details of the circumstances of his death were not disclosed in the statement.
Details later…
