Gracious David West is a meticulous, intelligent, educated dedicated serial killer –Justice Adolphus Enebeli

How Serial killer, Sex predator of 11 women and got them  killed 

.. Discharge and acquits female  hotel Manager.

BY IBRAHIM BAKARE

He operated like a horror movie actor. But in reality, the now convicted  serial killer Gracious David West, was an intelligent calculative itinerant sex predator and a robber whose mode of killing followed a familiar thread.

Due Gracious David West’s mode of operation in hotels, hospitality industry was threatened. Hotel  owners were compelled to install Close Circuit Television, CCTV, take inventory of personal details of their customers which invariably put away potential guests in hotels.

The meticulous murderer  carefully picks hotels located in relatively obscure area in any chosen City without Close Circuit Television, CCTV. He searches for good looking  young sex workers or ladies who hang around hotels looking for a fling. His victims are mainly women he lures  with irresistible offers of affection and benevolence. 

The immediate past Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura was put on under pressure to fish out Serial killer. There were street protests by concerned women the cut across the spectrum of the society.

During trials, a friend of one of his victims narrated to Police investigators that during  one Murderer’s  escapades, he cornered one of her friends, bought chicken barbecue for her, showed so much “love” and above all, he dangled N10,000 cash before her just for one night sexual funtime.

“My friend came to me excitedly that she just ran into a fortune as one man who entertained her very well at the hotel bar had promised to pay her N10,000 to sleep with him for the night. I congratulated her not knowing it was all a bait. The next morning, I knocked at hotel door, the Television was loud and no response until hotel manager was called. We later saw lifeless body of my friend with hands tied and mouth gaged with white straps torn from the bedsheet.”

After engaging them in sexual romps, in early hours of the morning, while the Victims are fast asleep, he brings out a knife cuts bedsheets into sizeable strings which he uses to bind their hands and feet. He stuffs their mouths with thorn bedsheets, disposes them of their valuables like money, Phones, Jewelries and ATM cards. At the point of strangulating them, he forces them to reveal their ATM Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) for which he empties their bank accounts. While the operation is going on, he raises the volume of the room Television set.  Passed about one year of grilling  thorough  crucibles of legal trial with every degree of fairness was eventually found guilty and convicted to die by hanging for killing 11 women in hotels Port Harcourt and environs, and attempted murder of one Benita Etim.

The serial murderer saw fairness in his judicial trial. When he could not provide personal legal representation, the state provided for him his defence Lawyer free. Even when he claimed he was being maltreated in the Correctional Centre (Prison) Warders during the Court trials, the Presiding Judge, Adolphus Enebeli, cautioned the Warders against trampling on his fundamental humanrights. The honourable Justice even threatened  to commit the Wards to Prison if abuse alleged against them was proving to be true. Painfully, he never gave his victims fair chance to live after his encounter with them.

Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the State High court sitting in Port Harcourt on Friday, October 9, 2020 in his judgment said the prosecution team was able to convince the court that David-West was the killer of the several females as alleged.

Many faces of convicted Serial killer, Gracious David West to die by hanging.

Justice Enebeli encapsulated the character of the killer that: “He is a dedicated serial killer, intelligent and educated in his crime. He said contrary to what the Defence representation of David West tried to do during the trial, he is not impulsive killer, not mentally sick but meticulously and calculatingly carried out the murder of the Eleven female victims”.  

The second defendant, Nimi ThankGod, a female hotel manager, who is facing one count charge of misconduct with corpse was discharged and acquitted. 

However, the Lawyer to David West, Vincent Chukwu said the conviction will be appealed.

“This is a trial Court, the first defendant still has the latitude to express this under the constitution. If we Lawyers are briefed to pursue his constitutional rights under the Law, that we will honestly do because the accused has right of Appeal up to the Supreme Court.”

On his part, the State Prosecutor, Chidi Ekeh said the Court totally agreed with their presentation, but regretted that the second defendant Nimi ThankGod escaped by whiskers because lined up witnesses just disappeared and refused to show up to testify during trials.

Suspected Serial Killer, Gracious David West 

Some of the ladies strangulated by the Serial killer in Hotels in Port Harcourt.

It would be recalled that Gracious David West had earlier confessed to have killed 15 women in different hotels  after making love to them was first arraigned in Court , Friday October 18, 2019 in Port Harcourt.

He was arrested on the September 19, 2019, in Bori, headquarters of Khana local government area of Rivers State on his way to Uyo in Akwa-Ibom State obviously when the search for him and campaigns against his notorious activities, he was paraded before Journalists at the Rivers State Police, headquarters, Moscow road, Port Harcourt, by CP Mustapha Dandaura.

Initially, the Serial Killer had confessed killing  15 young women  in different hotels in the state in within two months.

The 26 years old notorius Serial killer of women in hotels, Gracious David West, from Buguma in Asari-Toru local had confessed that he has actually killed’ a total of 15 women and started killing from Ikeja, Lagos before moving to Owerri, Imo State and Port Harcourt.

He made the confession on Friday, September 20, 2019 while being paraded by the immediate past Commissioner, CP Mustapha Dandaura,  the Rivers State Police at the Police Command headquarters.

On the motive behind his actions, he said; “I don’t know what comes over me to kill. After I have killed I feel remorse and cry for killing. But after that, the irresistible urge to kill comes over me again. I kill alone.”

About belonging to a Cult group, he said “I was a member of the Degbam Cult group, I have since repented. I am not killing for any Cult group. I just kill. I don’t know what comes over me to kill.”

Speaking about how he has been surviving he said, “The first woman I killed in one of hotels at Ikeja had about N85,000 in her account. 

“Before I strangulated them after love making I use the knife to cut  the hotel beddings into a semblance of a twine which I use to bind their hands and feet, and also use the knife to threaten them. The kitchen knife was sold to me by  an Aboki. I threaten that if they raised alarm I will kill them with the knife. Out of fear, they keep quiet while I raised the volume of the Television set in the hotel room to dwarf any noise from my room. I never kill with the knife.”

Gracious David West also revealed that before he kills his female victims he insisted on knowing the account balance and ATM pin of his Victims. 

“After strangulating them, I steal their ATM cards empty their accounts from any nearby ATM machine and move on. It is not all the girls I sleep with I kill. I only kill whenever the irresistible urge to kill overwhelms me. l don’t have a house. My mother died through poisoning from her mate and I am homeless. I sleep in hotels.”

He also revealed that the phones he stole from his victims is sold to a customer in Waterlines Junction off Port Harcourt/Aba Expressway and another buyer around MTN office by Oil Mill Market in Port Harcourt.

He also confirmed that he was one of the ex-militants rehabilitated by the Omega Power Ministry, OPM, that secured a job for Federal University of Science and Technology, FUTO, Owerri, through the Church but bolted away with students’ properties.

The suspect who at point broke down in tears also told Journalists that he tried to seek spiritual deliverance from Christ Chosen Church, was in Salvation Ministries but to no avail because he couldn’t secure accommodation to follow through.

CP Dandaura disclosed that his insistence on  Hotels in  the state to install Closed Circuit Television Cameras, CCTVs, Port Harcourt had yielded results.

He stated that “The suspect is definitely not alone in these killings, though he had made useful confessions but the Command will go beyond his confessions to ensure that a conclusive end is achieved that serve the interest of Justice .

Our Correspondent who was at the Police headquarters observed curiously that despite knowing he was on the wanted list by the Police, he never changed his stripped T-shirt and pair Jeans trousers which he insisted must be washed by the laundry of any hotels he lodged and put them when dried before checking out.

During one of his court appearances, the notorius Serial killer Gracious David West, caused a stir in Court appearing as Disciple of Salvation Ministries

Confessed Serial killer Gracious David West.

The Serial killer Gracious David West, also caused a stir when he appeared in a State High Court presided over by Honourable Justice Adolphus Enebeli, on Friday January 17 court in handcuffs, wearing green top and green shirt Correctional Centre (Prison) attire in Port Harcourt and the “5 Nights Of Glory”  

The conviction of the serial killer ended the  horrible story of a well calculative meticulous murderer and threat to society.