Monday, July 22, 2024 -The Appeal Court Lagos Division has dismissed the appeal filed by a Denmark national, Peter Nielsen, who was sentenced to death for k!lling his Nigerian wife, Zainab and daughter, Petra Nielsen.
Nielsen was on May 20, 2022, found
guilty, convicted and sentenced to d£ath by hanging for the murd€r of Zainab
and Petra, by Justice Bolanle Okikiolu-Ighile,(retd.), of the Lagos State High
Court, at the Tafawa Balewa Square. The Lagos State Government had accused
Nielsen, now 57, of smothering Zainab and their daughter Petra Nielsen, to
death at about 3:45 am, on April 5, 2018, at their No. 4, Flat 17, Bella Vista
Tower, Banana Island, Ikoyi residence. Two counts of murder was filed against
him.
Dissatisfied with his conviction and
sentencing, Nielsen approached the appellate court for the judgment to be
upturned.
However in a ruling delivered on
Friday, July 19, the Appeal court upheld his conviction by the trial court and
dismissed his appeal for lack of merit. The appeal court held that the
respondent (Lagos State) proved the offence of murder against the appellant
beyond reasonable doubt.
“The corroborative evidence of DNA
also strengthened the circumstantial evidence against the appellant. There was
no proof of breaking into the apartment as suggested by the appellant. The
missing exhibits as a result of the #EndSARS attack on the court do not affect
the defence of the appellant as he had ample opportunity before the attack on
the court. The findings of the forensic examiner corroborate the evidence of
the children.”
Nielsen was found guilty and
convicted of the murder of Zainab and Petra, by Justice Bolanle
Okikiolu-Ighile,(retd.), of the Lagos State High Court, at the Tafawa Balewa
Square on May 20, 2022. The trial court held that Nielsen smothered Zainab and
Petra Nielsen to death. She added that all
“This is one of the cases of domestic
violence. The DNA analysis of nail scraping brought out the assailant of
Zainab. Zainab tried so much to defend herself. The evidence shows that Peter
Nielsen killed his wife and daughter. There is evidence before the court that
there is a fight between Peter Nielsen and his wife,” Justice Okikiolu-Ighile
held
She held that Prosecution Witnesses (PW5 and
PW6) testified that they heard Zainab calling Mimi (one of the girls living
with the couple) for help and they heard Zainab telling Nielsen to check her
phone but he kept hitting her head.
“The act of Nielsen shows that he
suffocated his wife and daughter. Nielsen has always domestically abused his
wife which was shown in the police extract from the Ikoyi Police Station. She
didn’t know that her marriage to the convict was void abi nitio because Peter
was already married in Denmark.''the judge ruled
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