The convict, Ramon Adedoyin.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has upheld the death sentence of a popular hotel owner, Ramon Adedoyin, for killing a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, who lodged in his hotel.
Adedoyin is the owner of Hilton Hotel and Resorts, Ile-Ife.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, the appellate court held that Adedoyin was properly convicted and sentenced to death by the lower court.
The convict was found guilty by the trial court in the murder of the late Timothy Adegoke, an OAU postgraduate student.
The appeal court had on Oct. 29, 2024, reserved judgment on the matter, 16 months after the industrialist had filed an appeal.
“The judgment of the High Court of Osun State stands.
“Adedoyin’s appeal is dismissed.
“The Court of Appeal holds that Adedoyin was properly convicted and sentenced to death,” the judgement reads in part.
The appeal court however quashed and set aside the court below’s “Order of forfeiture of Hilton Hotel.”
It also quashed and set aside the lower court’s “Order of education scholarship to Adegoke’s children by Adedoyin and others.”
It would be recalled that in Nov. 5, 2021, Timothy Adegoke, an Abuja-based chartered accountant, travelled to Ile-Ife to write his Master of Business Administration exams at the OAU Distance Learning Centre.
When friends and family members no longer heard from the student two days after he had confirmed his arrival in Ile-Ife to them, he was declared missing.
Later, Adegoke’s body was found in a shallow grave at a location very close to Hilton Hotel and Resorts, where he had been lodged.
Investigations conducted later by the police later revealed that the business mogul was one of Adegoke’s four murderers.
The deceased left behind a wife and three children.