Police escorted a 26-year old murder suspect to his house on Capitol Bypass over the weekend to trace the knife he had allegedly used to stab his 22-year old girlfriend after a brief brawl on Nov 10.

Sources said James Kesselly who is now helping the police with their investigation into the death of Nancy Maiwo, commonly known as Wubu, had reportedly hidden the knife somewhere inside the house after he had stabbed her.

At the heart of the tragic incident was Kessely's wish to bring another woman to live with them in the one room that they were occupying.

The story goes that the new woman had just conceived a baby for Kessely and so when he suggested the idea to Nancy, who already had two children, she furiously rejected it, citing economic reasons.

Family sources quoted Nancy as telling Kesselly that he was marginally making ends meet from the repair of cell phones on a street pavement in Monrovia and so was not earning adequate income to support a larger family.

But Kessely could not budge. Nancy rushed to her mother to inform her about her boyfriend's desire to bring another woman to the house.

She returned home that fateful evening only to find that what had been a harmonious love affair between them had dramatically turned bitter with the two estranged lovers engaged in a fist fight that ended with Kesselly pulling out a knife to stab her.

In the early hours of November 4, Kesselly reportedly called a neighbor to say that his girlfriend was bleeding from serious wounds she had sustained from an armed robber who had allegedly stabbed her from the window. He then asked the neighbor to assist him carry the bleeding woman to hospital. But she died on the way to the hospital.

Police later arrived on the scene along with family members of the deceased, arresting Kesselly.

In his statement to the police, Kesselly reportedly said an armed robber stabbed his girlfriend through the window while they were asleep.

But family members said they saw no break in the front door, the room door and the window. "What drew our suspicion was that when we arrived at the scene of the crime, we saw no traces of blood on the floor; they were wiped. The cloth that was used to wipe the blood was seen in a tub in the room," said Forkpa Gizzie.

On November 6, at about 4 pm, police summoned family members to inform them that Kesselly had changed his statement. "He admitted to killing the girl but said it was a mistake," Mr. Gizzie said.

"We the family members, consistent with the conflicting nature of the statements made by the accused, are requesting the government to thoroughly investigate this murder case with all the speed it requires. We further request the Solicitor General to conduct an autopsy on the mortal remains of our daughter in order to shed light on the circumstances of her death," Mr. Gizzie pleaded.