While recounting what she saw in the hotel as a receptionist on the night Cynthia died, she added that she lied to the police, in order to cover the fact that she collected money twice and did not remit one.
Cynthia died after she was allegedly drugged, raped and strangled allegedlly by Okwumo Nwabufo and Ezike Olisaeloka who are standing trial alongside two others before the court.
Further in her testimony, 28-year-old Vivian told the court that she lied in two out of the three statements she made to the police about what happened in the hotel the night Cynthia was killed, adding that the third one was the accurate version.
In her testimony, she said that two of the defendants, Okwumo Nwabufo and Ezike Olisaeloka, came into the hotel at about 8.00 a.m and requested to lodge in the royal suite of the hotel, adding that since a couple, who had previously booked the royal suite at about midnight had checked out, she checked the suspects into the same room with a used receipt and shared the money they paid for the room with the hotel’s porter.
According to her, after they checked the room and liked it, the first defendant said he was going to bring his guest and later brought Cynthia, while the second defendant paid for the room and collected the used receipt.
She said she was surprised when the hotel management later called her, after she had closed from work, to tell her that a lady had been found dead in the room she alloted to the defendants.
She added that upon getting to the hotel, she met a team of policemen who took her and other hotel staff to the police station and took their statements.
At the police station, Vivian said she lied that the couple, who had earlier paid for the room, were relatives of the suspects and that the suspects were only staying in the room to complete the duration the couple had paid for.
She said she lied to the police to avoid the hotel management knowing that she collected the money for the room and shared it with the hotel’s porter.
She, however, said that in her third statement to the police, she told the truth and later refunded the money to the hotel’s management.
Under cross-examination, Vivian said she could not remember the names of the couple who first paid for the room.
Earlier in the proceeding, Justice Akinlade struck out an application filed by the second defendants for a stay of proceeding, pending an appeal filed against an earlier ruling by the judge.
The judge ruled that the new Lagos criminal procedure rule does not allow for a stay of criminal proceeding until the matter is concluded and adjourned the matter till April 22, 2013 for continuation of trial.
Cynthia died after she was allegedly drugged, raped and strangled allegedlly by Okwumo Nwabufo and Ezike Olisaeloka who are standing trial alongside two others before the court.
Further in her testimony, 28-year-old Vivian told the court that she lied in two out of the three statements she made to the police about what happened in the hotel the night Cynthia was killed, adding that the third one was the accurate version.
In her testimony, she said that two of the defendants, Okwumo Nwabufo and Ezike Olisaeloka, came into the hotel at about 8.00 a.m and requested to lodge in the royal suite of the hotel, adding that since a couple, who had previously booked the royal suite at about midnight had checked out, she checked the suspects into the same room with a used receipt and shared the money they paid for the room with the hotel’s porter.
According to her, after they checked the room and liked it, the first defendant said he was going to bring his guest and later brought Cynthia, while the second defendant paid for the room and collected the used receipt.
She said she was surprised when the hotel management later called her, after she had closed from work, to tell her that a lady had been found dead in the room she alloted to the defendants.
She added that upon getting to the hotel, she met a team of policemen who took her and other hotel staff to the police station and took their statements.
At the police station, Vivian said she lied that the couple, who had earlier paid for the room, were relatives of the suspects and that the suspects were only staying in the room to complete the duration the couple had paid for.
She said she lied to the police to avoid the hotel management knowing that she collected the money for the room and shared it with the hotel’s porter.
She, however, said that in her third statement to the police, she told the truth and later refunded the money to the hotel’s management.
Under cross-examination, Vivian said she could not remember the names of the couple who first paid for the room.
Earlier in the proceeding, Justice Akinlade struck out an application filed by the second defendants for a stay of proceeding, pending an appeal filed against an earlier ruling by the judge.
The judge ruled that the new Lagos criminal procedure rule does not allow for a stay of criminal proceeding until the matter is concluded and adjourned the matter till April 22, 2013 for continuation of trial.
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