The killing of an African tribal chief so that his blood could be sacrificed at a funeral – this was the setting of a ritual murder in Ghana in December 1944, which resulted in the hanging of three of the eight killers on Monday, March 24th, 1947.

All three men were prominent West Africans – Aaron Dankwa was a well-known Accra businessman and himself son of a tribal chief; Kwasi Pipem was the grandson of a previous chief and “drummer of the talking drums” in the tribal palace; and Kwame Kagya was also well known in Accra.

After killing the tribal chief – who was of a lower caste – they intended to sacrifice his blood at the funeral of Sir Ofori Atta, the father of Dankwa, then splash it on the throne of Sir Ofori’s successor.

Of the other five murderers, two were hanged on a different day, one died in prison and two were reprieved.