Update: Authorities arrest driver, cook, security on the death of Cameroonian Catholic Bishop as case changes from suicide to murder

Earlier this month, LIB reported the death of a Cameroonian Catholic bishop, Jean-Marie Benoît Balla whose body was found in a river, in a suspected case of Suicide. Read here.

The new update reveals that security agents have arrested the Bishop's driver, the night watchman, his cook and the domestic servant who served his last supper on the fatal night as the suspected cause of death changes from suicide to murder.

Local news reports say that “signs of torture” have been found on the body of the Cameroonian bishop whose body was found in a river on June 2nd, three days after he left his residence.

According to BaretaNews, the findings of the autopsy shows that the bishop's body spent fewer than 4 hours in the water before it was found, even though his body was found several days after he had disappeared. 

The autopsy also notes the lack of water in his lungs, which would have been present had he died by drowning. His body had a stiffened arm, folded on its abdomen indicating that Bishop Balla was not fighting against the fury of the waters. Bishop Balla was tortured and brutally murdered.

Archbishop Cornelius Esua of Bamenda told the daily Le Jour that Bishop Balla “did not seem to us as troubled as that (to have committed suicide),” and noted that Bishop suicides are rare

“The bishops do not commit suicide," he said.

The late bishop, who was 58, left his residence late on the evening of May 30. He disappeared, and his car was found parked on the Sanaga bridge near Ebebda, about 25 miles northwest of Obala. His body was found June 2, about 10 miles from the bridge.

A note was found in his car which reportedly read: “Do not look for me! I am in the water.”