The High Court in Wa has sentenced Elisha Mahama, the principal suspect in the murder of Eric Johnson, owner of the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel, popularly known as Jirapa Dubai, to life imprisonment.
On Wednesday, October 15, 2025, a seven-member jury unanimously found Mahama—who had served as the human resource manager at the hotel—guilty of murder.
Two other accused persons, Belinda Miller and Kweku Kombata, were acquitted and discharged.
The ruling brings to an end a nearly year-long trial, a case that gripped residents of the Upper West Region.
Speaking to journalists after the verdict, Principal State Attorney Saeed Abdul Shakur, who represented the Johnson family, said the judgment provided a sense of closure.
“I’m excited to an extent. The wheels of justice, they say, grind slowly. We may never get Eric Johnson back, but at least justice has been served,” he stated.
Eric Johnson, the owner of the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel, was found dead in a pool of blood in one of the hotel rooms on Sunday, February 11, 2024.
A total of seven people were arrested in connection with his murder.
Investigations revealed that Johnson’s attacker or attackers climbed over the hotel wall using a ladder and gained entry to his room with a master card.
The deceased was believed to have just finished bathing before the assault. He was found lying on the floor, a towel wrapped around his waist, and bearing multiple deep wounds believed to have been inflicted by his killer or killers.
Johnson’s vehicle was driven out of the compound but was later found abandoned in Jirapa town.
Police initially picked up seven suspects for questioning over the killing.
Mahama, who had been dismissed from his position as human resource manager, was reportedly involved in multiple sexual relationships with over four female employees, which led to conflicts and disrupted hotel operations.
According to the prosecution, on the night of February 10, 2024, Mahama scaled the hotel’s fortified fence with a ladder to unlawfully enter Johnson’s private residence.
Police investigations established that while inside the premises, Mahama made several phone calls to Belinda Miller, seeking information on the location of the master key to Johnson’s room.
The prosecution told the court that Mahama entered Johnson’s room and stabbed him multiple times, leaving him naked and in a pool of blood.
Mahama allegedly stole an unspecified amount of money and the key to Johnson’s private Nissan vehicle, which he used to flee the scene before abandoning the car at Jirapa Zongo, according to the prosecution.
