Crimes NEWS

African wife, 29, accused of murdering her millionaire British husband, 76, claims she was tortured before confession

Published by onlines on November 4, 2009

A young African woman accused of murdering her millionaire British husband during a holiday in Gambia has claimed she only confessed to the crime after being tortured by police.

Kate Artori West, 29, has been held in the country since 76-year-old William West was found bludgeoned to death in July 2006.

Kate West pictured at a police station in Banjul, Gambia, two years ago

She led police to his charred corpse in the grounds of the couple’s luxury home on the Gambian coast, two weeks after the businessman disappeared.

West, a Nigerian national, was just 20 when she married the then 70-year-old computer tycoon from Hastings, East Sussex, in 2000.

britian+husband+murder

She has been held in Gambia for the past thee years as her trial stopped and started.

But now she has now given new evidence, claiming she was beaten and electrocuted by police before she signed a confession.

West initially told police that five men murdered her husband, but weeks later she changed her story and admitted the killing.

Mr West died of severe head injuries caused by being struck with a giant pestle used in African cooking.

He was then set on fire and buried in sand in a black bin liner at the luxury beach resort in Sanyang.

After their marriage, Mr West drafted a new will leaving all his money – and a £750,000 home in Hastings – to his wife.

It was claimed the businessman had been planning to tell her that he wanted a divorce during their Gambia holiday.

Gambian police superintendent Aziz Bojang said in July 2006: ‘She has confessed, and she is the prime suspect.

‘The conditions of Mr West’s remains were so horrible. His body was very badly burned.

‘We are still trying to determine the motive for the killing and there is every reason to believe his wife would clearly benefit through his death.’

As the trial finally got underway at Brikama High Court in Gambia today after a series of delays, West told the court she had never written a confession to police.

Sitting before Judge Ngui Mboob-Janneh, West said: ‘After coming back from Sanyang, then they took me to Palma Rima Hotel where there is a police station.’

She said that after arriving at the police station she was tortured into confession, adding that she had ‘electric wire administered to her body’ and was beaten until ‘blood was coming from her mouth and nose’.

She then alleges that a man in a black uniform from the paramilitary police came into the police cell and beat her up.

She told the court: ‘He (the paramilitary policeman) found me sitting and used his boots and pushed me until I fell down and then lifted me.

‘I was crying and I did not see them until the next day and I spent the night in the dark room.’

She said that when quizzed about her millionaire husband she told police she didn’t know where Mr West was.

She said: ‘I was asked about the whereabouts of my husband and I replied to the officer that I knew nothing about him.’

West flew home to Britain from Gambia on July 4 2006 – the day after Mr West vanished – and then returned on July 19 to report him missing.

She initially claimed he had disappeared after popping into a cigar store on a day trip to Senegal.

Irish-born Mr West, who made a fortune from running his own computer business, was a widower when he met his second wife on holiday in Gambia in 2000.

His first wife, Doris, died in 1994.

According to friends of Mr West he was planning on divorcing his African wife and had planned to tell her their marriage was over during their holiday to Gambia.

A friend said at the time: ‘It hadn’t been going well for some time. The age difference was really beginning to show itself and William was totally under the thumb.

‘He’s said that he was taking Kate on holiday to tell her he wanted a divorce.’

Translate into 75 languages in ONE SINGLE CLICK. Chat with your foreigner friends and don\'t worry about the translation .. TRY IT FOR FREE