The gruesome murder of a 31-year-old scrap dealer and his 28-year-old girlfriend on Wednesday has turned Onyenase at Awoshie, one of the fastest growing suburbs in Accra, into a scene of tragedy and mourning. Although situated within a notorious neighbourhood and near the densely populated areas of Ablekuma and Anyaa, Onyenase had not been noted for crime and robbery until residents woke up on Wednesday to a real horror of horrors. According to the Daily Graphic, a group of market women were the first to appear at the scene at about 4.00 a.m. to find the bodies of the couple, lying about 50 metres apart and both riddled with bullets. The two were said to have been gunned down by killers who fled the scene immediately after the crime. The cause of the shooting was not immediately known but police detectives say they suspect rivalry, motivated murder or an armed robbery attack. Residents who gathered at the scene following the alarm raised by the market women said there were no eyewitnesses to the crime which happened in front of a school while occupants of a house close by said although they heard the shots at about 2 a.m. none of them came out due to fear. When they came out at daybreak, they found the dead bodies about 20 metres from a black VW Golf saloon car belonging to the man, Awel Usmanu, which neighbours said they had seen the two driving in the previous night. One of the front tyres of the car had also been deflated. At the scene, they were both lying face down with gunshot wounds at their backs slightly above the hips. According to the neighbours, the woman, Irene Emefa Agbei, 28, was a trader at the Rawlings Park in Accra. Her wounds indicated that she was shot twice, one at the back of her shoulder, which came out through one of her breasts, and the other slightly above her hips. They were both shot at the same spot and crime scene investigators indicated that whoever fired the shots must have been a good marksman. The two were last seen in Irene's house by a co-tenant, Bismark Agbley, at about 12 midnight and locked in an argument during which Irene was heard telling Awel to "leave me alone, it's late. I want to go to bed because I will go to work tomorrow". The neighbour said Awel did not yield but dragged her from the house into his car, which was parked in front of their gate, and they drove off "until word came this morning that they have both been murdered". Awel had a wife by whom he had two kids aged 12 and four and his wife is said to be pregnant with their third child, while Irene was not married but had a five-year-old daughter with one Kennedy, who lives abroad. According to the neighbours, the two victims had been in a relationship for the past one-and-a-half years, a situation they said Awel's wife, Charlotte Morton, had not taken kindly to and which had generated several confrontations between the two rivals. They said the most recent one was last Friday November 2, 2007 when Charlotte stormed Irene's house and met her with Awel but after a hot exchange of words, Awel managed to push Charlotte into his car and drove away promising, Irene that he would be back later. Charlotte was alleged to have threatened Irene during the confrontation, after which she packed her things from their matrimonial home and went to live with her parents at Arena. According to King Hassan Mohammed, a friend of Awel, who operates an Internet cafe on the main Awoshie road, the two came to the place and left but while he was going home after closing his cafe at about 11:30p.m, he spotted Awel's car parked at the spot where it was found on Wednesday morning. He said they were relaxed in the car so he only waved at them and went home to sleep. Irene's mother, Madam Cecilia Agbenyo, collapsed on hearing the news of her daughter's brutal murder and was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where she was admitted. According to the Accra Regional Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent Boi-Bi-Boi, Awel cashed ¢19 million from the bank the previous day but the whereabouts of that money was not known. The bodies have been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary awaiting autopsy. Source: Daily Graphic