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Mysterious death of Charmain Speirs in Ghana
Nearly a decade after Charmain Speirs, a 40-year-old Scottish woman, was found dead in a Ghanaian hotel bathtub, unanswered questions continue to haunt her loved ones. Her husband, Eric Adusah-a self-proclaimed prophet and head of the Pentecostal Global Light Revival church-was charged with her murder but later released due to insufficient evidence. Adusah, who now resides in the U.S. under the name Eric Isaiah Kusi Boateng, has consistently denied any involvement in her death.
Whirlwind romance and troubling signs
Speirs, originally from Arbroath, met Adusah through a Christian dating site in early 2014. Their relationship moved swiftly; they married in September of the same year. To outsiders, the union appeared divinely ordained-Adusah was revered by his followers as a prophet with direct divine revelations, and Speirs, after a series of failed relationships, believed she had found her spiritual match. Within months, she became the church's "first lady," featured alongside her husband in promotional materials.
However, behind the public facade, friends and family noticed disturbing changes. Elma Adams, an 80-year-old devout Christian who had mentored Adusah in Scotland, described the marriage as rushed and transactional. "They didn't strike me as a romantic couple," Adams told the BBC. "It felt more like she was an acquisition, a stage prop."
Allegations of control and abuse
Speirs gradually distanced herself from most of her friends, though Adams and another confidante, Anne-Marie Bond, maintained contact. Both women recounted distressing conversations with Speirs, who described feeling financially dependent on Adusah and subjected to verbal insults about her appearance. Bond recalled a visit to the couple's home in Essex, where Speirs confided, "He is not who he says he is." She alleged Adusah had multiple identities and other women.
The BBC spoke to two former partners of Adusah, who claimed they had experienced emotional abuse. Another woman, who had been in a relationship with him, reportedly reached out to Speirs to warn her. Despite these red flags, Speirs struggled to reconcile her faith in Adusah with the mounting evidence of his deception. "She still had that little bit of faith," Bond said. "That belief that this was the man God had chosen for her."
Final trip to Ghana: A mission for the truth
In March 2015, Speirs traveled alone to Ghana, leaving her seven-year-old son with members of Adusah's church. Friends believed she was determined to uncover the truth about her husband's past. Adams speculated that Speirs was "on a mission" to confront Adusah about his background, including his family and alleged other marriages. A church friend, whose identity remains protected, told British police that Speirs had discovered Adusah used a different name and was significantly older than he had claimed. The friend also alleged Speirs had found evidence of another wife in Ghana.
On March 16, the day before she was last seen alive, the friend received a call from Speirs, who said she was checking into a hotel with Adusah to confront him. The call abruptly ended amid sounds of shouting and what appeared to be Adusah banging a table. Four days later, on March 20, Speirs was found dead in the hotel bathtub.
Discrepancies in Adusah's account
Adusah told authorities he left the hotel after midnight to attend a 6 a.m. meeting in Accra with a reverend before flying back to the UK. However, the BBC's Disclosure investigation revealed that the reverend in question did not corroborate this alibi. Additionally, Adusah failed to mention that three men-one carrying a briefcase-visited their hotel room that night. The men, who later claimed they were there to pray, helped Adusah load bags into his car.
Adusah, who now lives in the U.S., did not respond to the BBC's inquiries regarding allegations of domestic abuse and coercive control. His legal team has previously denied any wrongdoing.
Unresolved grief and lingering questions
More than ten years after Speirs' death, her friends remain tormented by unanswered questions. "I just wish I did more," Bond reflected. "She was a grown woman, but I still feel I could have intervened." Adams, who once considered Adusah a son, now views their relationship as a betrayal. "We were both conned-useful idiots," she said. "Charmain was used; she was a commodity."
The case, which has been the subject of a BBC podcast series, Charmain and the Prophet, and a Disclosure documentary, continues to raise concerns about coercive control, religious manipulation, and the dangers faced by women in abusive international marriages.
