The third accused, who had taken a prominent part in concealing the murder, and who was proved to be leading member of the Human Leopard Society, was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
[12]. I.e. a thatched roof on wooden posts with thick mud walls about two feet high.
[13]. At the request of the Colonial Office the names of the accused persons in all the cases have been withheld.
CHAPTER IV
THE IMPERRI CASE
The second case dealt with was the one known as the Imperri case. Fifty-four persons were charged with the murder of a boy aged about twenty years. They were also charged with being accessories after the fact to murder and further with being members of an unlawful society: to wit, the Human Leopard Society.
The murder took place on 13th July, 1912.
The Crown Prosecutor, for want of evidence to corroborate the story told by accomplices who had turned King’s evidence, only proceeded against fifteen of these persons on the capital charge.
The case was commenced on the 13th January and the verdict was given on the 3rd March. Fifty-nine witnesses gave evidence, and the notes of evidence taken reached nearly a thousand foolscap pages.
The facts as alleged by the witnesses for the Crown were as follows: