Ayo Oluokun Posted in Crime

How suspected serial killer extorted N70,000 ‘ransom’ for victim – Brother

FILE: Alleged serial killer, Gracious David West, in court

Gracious David West at Rivers State Police Command when he was paraded

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Self – confessed, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, serial killer, Gracious David West, extorted N70,000 ransom from the boyfriend of one of his victims, late Miss Kelechi Onuoha, after killing her, Micheal, one of the brothers of the deceased has revealed.

Narrating painful of the double loss of members of the family, Michael said, “My sister’s boyfriend revealed to me that about 2am on that Tuesday, a call came through a phone number with the caller claiming that my sister was kidnapped by ritualists and he managed to rescue her and demanded for a ransom of N150,000. But they negotiated for N50,000 and he said the money should be transferred into my sister’s account.

“He later called again that he ( the boyfriend of the deceased) should send more money, that what he sent was not enough. Again he also called one my sister’s friend and narrated the same Kidnap story and she also sent N20,000 to my sister’s account. But when they insisted on speaking to my sister, he stopped taking their calls.”

“We are really crying for justice because our sister was killed in most horrifying circumstances and we were also extorted by the same person. It is quite painful,”

David West was arrested by the Police in September, following outrage over discoveries of bodies of young ladies strangled to death in hotel rooms across Port Harcourt.

He was linked to the murder through the CCTV camera in one of the hotels where one of the ladies strangled to death was discovered.

David West confessed to killing seven women and draining funds from their accounts, using the ATM cards and the pins he forcefully collected from the victims, just before he strangled them to death when he was paraded before journalists by the police.

“So far, I have killed five girls in Port Harcourt; one in Owerri, and another in Lagos. I started the killing in Lagos. I took N52,000 from the bank account of the first girl I killed in Lagos. Thereafter, I went to Port Harcourt, then to Owerri, and later returned to Port Harcourt.

“After I killed a girl, I collected her phone and sold it at Waterlines and the MTN office (in Port Harcourt). I met the last girl at a club in Port Harcourt,” he said.

He, however, agreed to killing nine women when he was arraigned on 10 counts charges of murder by the Police on Tuesday, October 22, 2019 at the Rivers State High Court.

The court ordered that he should be remanded in prison, while the case was adjourned to November 18, 2019, for hearing.

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ExtortionGracious David Westserial killervictims