By Ayo Kehinde
The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has upheld the death sentence handed to Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, proprietor of Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, over the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University.
Adedoyin, alongside two of his hotel staff, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem, was sentenced to death by hanging on May 30, 2023, by the Osun State High Court.
The court found them guilty of the gruesome murder of Adegoke, whose body was discovered in a shallow grave near the Hilton Hotel in Ile-Ife in November 2021.
Adegoke had travelled from Abuja to Ile-Ife on November 5, 2021, to write his MBA exams at the OAU Distance Learning Centre and lodged at Adedoyin’s hotel, where he was later found dead.
Dissatisfied with the verdict of Justice Adepele Ojo of the Osun State High Court, Adedoyin filed an appeal seeking to overturn the death sentence and the forfeiture of his hotel.
However, in its ruling on Thursday, the Court of Appeal dismissed Adedoyin’s appeal, affirming the High Court’s judgment.
The appellate court held that the conviction and death sentence of Adedoyin were proper and in accordance with the law.
“The judgment of the High Court of Osun State stands. Adedoyin’s appeal is dismissed in part. The Court of Appeal held that Adedoyin was properly convicted and sentenced to death,” the court ruled.
The court, however, quashed the High Court’s order for the forfeiture of Hilton Hotel and the provision of educational scholarships for Adegoke’s children by Adedoyin and his co-defendants.
“Order of forfeiture of Hilton Hotel quashed and set aside. Order of education scholarship to children of Timothy Adegoke by Adedoyin and others quashed and set aside,” the court stated.
