Solved case · 2012
Also known as Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie's murder · Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie's killing
The short answer
Ghanaian graduate student Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie was killed in Joppatowne, Maryland in 2012, allegedly by Alexander Kinyua, who was later found incompetent to stand trial due to paranoid schizophrenia and committed to a Maryland mental institution.
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Suggest coverage for Killing of Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-KodieKwadwo "Kujoe" Agyei-Kodie traveled to the United States from Ghana to pursue a doctoral degree at Morgan State University in Baltimore, having already earned several master's degrees in Ghana. He had stopped his studies in 2008. While at Morgan State, he had met Anthony Kinyua, a professor and the father of Alexander Kinyua. In the weeks before his death, Agyei-Kodie was living with the Kinyua family while awaiting self-deportation due to non-compliance with the terms of his visa; he had been staying there for approximately six weeks.
Alexander "Alex" Kinyua was born on October 23, 1990, in Nairobi, Kenya, and emigrated to the United States as a child, becoming a U.S. citizen. At the time of the killing, the 21-year-old was an engineering student at Morgan State University. In the period before the killing, Kinyua had posted bizarre and disturbing writings on his Facebook page, including references to "mass human sacrifices" and "ethnic cleansing," two days before his arrest. His mother separately posted that he had been arrested on May 19 in connection with a fight in his dormitory room at Morgan State, facing a charge of first degree assault and reckless endangerment, with bail set at $220,000. The killing of Agyei-Kodie occurred after Kinyua had been released on bail following that earlier assault.
On Friday, May 25, 2012, Agyei-Kodie was reported missing by Kinyua's father. On May 31, police responded to the Kinyua family residence after being contacted by Kinyua's brother, who reported what appeared to be body parts in two tins in the basement. Additional remains were later found outside a church approximately one mile away. Alexander Kinyua was arrested and charged with first degree murder, along with first and second degree assault. Reporting on the case describes an act of cannibalism, with Kinyua alleged to have eaten Agyei-Kodie's organs.
In the aftermath, Morgan State University established a chief public safety officer position. Kinyua was subsequently diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and found incompetent to stand trial. He has been indefinitely committed to a Maryland mental institution rather than being convicted at trial.
Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie stopped his doctoral studies at Morgan State University.
Alexander Kinyua was born in Nairobi, Kenya.
Alexander Kinyua was arrested for a fight in his Morgan State dormitory room, charged with first degree assault and reckless endangerment; bail set at $220,000.
Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie was reported missing by Kinyua's father.
Police responded to the Kinyua family residence after being alerted by Kinyua's brother to apparent body parts in the basement; further remains were later found near a church about a mile away. Alexander Kinyua was arrested and charged with first degree murder and assault.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Ghanaian exchange student and former Morgan State University doctoral student, killed in 2012.[3]
Charged with first degree murder and assault; later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and found incompetent to stand trial, resulting in indefinite commitment to a Maryland mental institution rather than a criminal conviction.[3]
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