ADEMOLA, C.J.N. (Delivering the Leading Judgment ): The appellant has appealed against his conviction for murder and the sentence of death passed on him in the Ikeja High Court on 10th July, 1969. He was tried by Beckley, J. with a jury.
The facts recorded against the appellant are briefly as follows: He, as well as the deceased, lived in a village known as Ojo. They were both married and were first cousins. They lived in the same village and are neighbours. The deceased, it would appear, paid attention to the appellant's wife. According to the appellant he had made a report about this to their people: the deceased had been warned but he would not desist. There appears to be no evidence of this report or of the warning. On the afternoon of the 8th May, 1968, the deceased's wife and her sister were making mats under a tree in the village. The deceased returned from his farm, spread a mat under the tree and went to sleep. About two hours later the appellant returned home, went straight …