The main suspect in the murder of Eric Johnson, the owner of the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel, popularly known as Jirapa ‘Dubai’ Elisha Mahama, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Elisha Mahama was convicted and sentenced, while two other accused persons, Belinda Miller and Kweku Kankumbata, were acquitted and discharged.
The case was presided over by Justice Yussif Assibey at the High Court in Wa.
Recalled, the owner of the safari resort in Jirapa in the Upper West Region was murdered in February 2024.
Mr Eric Johnson, on February 10, 2024, was attacked and stabbed to death at his private residence.
The police situational report revealed he was discovered in a pool of blood the following morning.
On Sunday, February 11, 2024, some suspects were arrested in connection with the murder.
They include Dookuuri Fausta, Braimah Kasim, Belinda Miller and Michael Klugey, all employees of the hotel.
On Monday, February 12, 2024, two other employees, Favour Nuobe and Kweku Kombata, were arrested the following day.
The suspect, Elisha Mahama, was a former human resource manager at the hotel and was sacked for having multiple sexual relationships with more than four female employees.
A seven-member jury unanimously found Elisha Mahama guilty of murder, and he was convicted on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.
In court, the prosecution detailed how Elisha Mahama entered the private residence of Eric Johnson on the night of February 10, scaling the fortified fenced wall with the aid of a ladder.
They also revealed an available phone records to the police indicated that he placed several calls to Belinda Miller asking her where he could locate the master key to Mr Johnson’s room.
The prosecution told the court that Elisha Mahama later entered Mr Johnson’s room and stabbed him multiple times, leaving him naked and in a pool of blood.
According to the prosecutor, he also took an unspecified amount of money from the room and his private Nissan car key, which he used to go out of the crime scene and later abandoned the car at Jirapa Zongo.
The prosecution also revealed that Elisha Mahama, on the evening of the murder, left another girlfriend, Laureate Asare, in his room with the pretext of going to buy her food.
Speaking to the media after the verdict, Principal State Attorney Saeed Abdul Shakur said, “I’m excited to an extent. The wheels of justice, they say, grind slowly. We may never get Eric Johnson back, but at least justice has been served.”
Meanwhile, the late Eric Johnson had recently built the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel, nicknamed Jirapa Dubai, in the Upper West Region.
The Jirapa Dubai has a 4-km safari park with various kinds of animals, including zebras. It has an artificial lake with fish, aqua activities or games (Jet Ski).