Death Sentence: Adedoyin’s Appeal Suffers Setback

Hearing in an appeal filed by Dr. Rahmon Adedoyin, against the death sentence handed down on him by an Osun State High Court, which convicted him over the murder of Timothy Adegoke, suffered setback on Tuesday.

Dissatisfied with the judgment of the lower court, Adedoyin, owner of Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, where Adegoke died, had approached the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, to challenge the death verdict.

It was gathered that the matter before the appellate court was adjourned indefinitely, as there were many cases before it, hence his appeal was not mentioned.

At the court sitting on Tuesday, it was learnt that more than 25 cases came up during the proceedings, hence there was no time to mention Adedoyin’s case.

A court official, who pleaded anonymity, later confirmed to our correspondent that the case was not called because so many cases were heard on the same day.

He added that the case had been adjourned till another date that would be agreed upon after due consultation by the appellant and respondents’ counsels.

Recall an Osun State High Court, in May 2023, found popular hotel owner, a renowned multibillionaire and industrialist, Dr Rahmon Adedoyin, who is also the Maye of Ife, guilty in the murder of Timothy Adegoke.

Adegoke was a former Post-graduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

He was found dead in November 2021, at Adedoyin’s Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, where he (the deceased) had lodged.

In a judgment, the Chief Judge of Osun State, Justice Adepele Ojo, pronounced Adedoyin and two staff of the hotel guilty of murder charge.

The court, in a judgment that lasted over two hours, held that the circumstantial evidence available to the court, pointed to the killing of Adegoke while being a guest at the hotel owned by Adedoyin.

Adedoyin was sentenced to death by hanging alongside the hotel workers, Adeniyi Aderogba and Oyetunde Kazeem.

Adegoke had travelled from his base in Abuja to Ile-Ife on November 5, 2021, to write his MBA exams at the OAU Distance Learning Centre.

When friends and family members no longer heard from the student two days after he had confirmed his arrival in Ile-Ife to them, he was declared missing.

Later, Adegoke’s body was found in a shallow grave at a location very close to Hilton Hotel and Resorts, where he had been accommodated.

Investigations conducted by the police later revealed that Adedoyin was one of the student’s four killers.

The Hope