A 24-year-old driver has been placed on remand by the Agona Swedru Magistrate Court for allegedly murdering Opanyin Kweku Oppong Abdulai, a 70-year-old cocoa farmer at Agona Abodom in the Central Region.
Samuel Appiah, the defendant, did not enter a plea and will return to court on October 17.
The accused is a resident of Ofaakor, a Kasoa neighbourhood in the Central region, according to prosecuting sergeant Emmanuel Akunor, who testified before the court chaired by Mr Isaac Apeatu.
He said that Madam Halifatu Abdulai, the deceased's daughter who was stationed in Agona Abodom in the Agona West, was the complainant in the case.
According to the prosecution, the dead had a cocoa field in the hamlet of Dapong, close to Upper Bobikuma, that shared a border with the accused's father's cocoa farm, over which the accused has custody.
According to him, the dead and the accused got into a fight about some missing cocoa beans that belonged to the deceased and which the accused was thought to have stolen around three weeks earlier when the accused visited the village.
According to the prosecution, the complainant received a call from her deceased father on September 21 asking her to come to see him because he was concerned about the accused's behaviour and possible threat to him.
Later, the complainant got a call from a neighbouring village informing him that the dead is missing and that a search team had found the suspect and turned him over to the Upper Bobikuma Police for further investigation.
The prosecution said that on September 22, while the search team resumed their efforts, the late Opanyin Abdulai's body was discovered lying beneath a mango tree covered in timber slaps.
It was then sent to the Swedru Government Hospital, where he was later declared dead.
According to the prosecution, the defendant admitted to murdering the 70-year-old cocoa farmer following lengthy questioning because the farmer had accused him of stealing cocoa beans.