Gracious David-West

Gracious David-West (born c. 1980) is a suspected serial killer from Nigeria. From July until September 2019 David-West is suspected of killing at least 15 women, mostly in the city of Port Harcourt. He was apprehended on 19 September 2019. He later confessed to a total of 15 murders.

David-West reportedly had a tough childhood, he claims that his mother was poisoned and that as the only son of his father much was expected of him but he could not deliver. He claimed that he attended the branch of the Lord's Chosen Church in Obigbo, where he said that he confessed to the pastor that he had been killing women. The pastor reportedly invited him to a crusade prayer service to heal him.

David-West was reportedly a member of the Deebham, a fraternity group that is notorious in Nigeria for engaging in acts of violence and Voodoo.

Although David-West reportedly belonged to a criminal group, David-West told authorities that he had acted alone.

Modus operandi

In a confession, David-West claimed that he had "an irresistible urge to kill" and every night from June to his capture in September he scoured the streets for women in his vehicle. He would proceed to then go to a local hotel where he and the woman would eat, have sex, and then go to bed. In the middle of the night David-West would wake up the victim and threaten her with a knife. He would then turn the television or the radio on high volume, and using strips of cloth he had cut from the pillow cases, he would tie up the victim before manually strangling her.

He was arrested when in the early morning of 19 September 2019, a woman who had accompanied to a hotel woke up to David-West tying her up and preparing to suffocate her. David-West and another individual from Kaduna State were arrested and charged with homicide.

He was due for arraignment on 22nd October 2019 but the absence of his lawyer frustrated his arraignmentHowever, when the case was called up the following day, David-West pleaded guilty to nine murder charges against him but pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted murder of victim who survived his attack. Trial Judge, Justice Adolphus Enebeli adjourned till 18, 21st, 27th and 29th of November and 4th of December 2019 for hearing and ordered that the suspect be remanded in prison custody.