Gambian wife, 26, admits to killing Irish husband, 76
The confession marked the conclusion of a tragic story that centred on William West’s dream of a new life following the death of his first wife.
The 76-year-old’s charred remains were found last month in a bag just outside the perimeter fence of the luxury four-bedroomed home he shared with his wife in the Gambian fishing village of Sanyang.
Kate West, 26, has been charged along with three men with the murder of Mr West, whose main home was in the south of England in Hastings, East Sussex.
The three other suspects, Favor Akponegbeta Abakau, Idriss Masad and David Bathran, pleaded not guilty to the charge at Brikama Magistrates’ Court.
Gambia police assistant superintendent Aziz Bojang said all four suspects have been remanded in custody and will reappear in court on August 17.
In initial interviews, West told Gambian police that five Nigerian men took
Mr West from their home and killed him.
However, Mr Aziz said her version of events later changed and she admitted knocking her husband unconscious before dragging him from their home and setting him alight.
Mr West met his second wife in 2000 and reportedly married her after a few months. His first wife, Doris, died in 1994.
It emerged that West was a beneficiary in her husband’s will, and was in line to inherit the Gambian property they shared.
A team of Sussex Police detectives is travelling to Gambia to help local officers with forensic and investigative issues.
The team is expected to take Mr West’s DNA samples with them and return to Britain on Friday.
