newspapers. In general, prison life was difficult for Gowon and he lost more than thirty pounds while incarcerated. However, he had few problems with most other prisoners at Luzira and even developed a friendship with one of his former enemies who also served a prison term. However, he had a tense relationship with those prisoners who had formerly served alongside him in the Uganda Army. The hostility between him and his ex-superior Ali Fadhul was so intense that prison authorities had to keep the two separate. The former Chief of Staff maintained his innocence during the entire trial, stating on one occasion that "These people were civilians. They could not have been killed. This is what I know." Gowon's former subordinates had confessed before the trial that they had murdered Laki on Gowon's direct order, but the reliability of their confessions was questioned during the trial. They had told the police about Gowon's order because they had already been arrested on charges of murder, hoping to be treated leniently by indicting Gowon. When this did not come to pass, the purported witnesses recanted their confessions. As the prosecutors attempted to gather more and firmer evidence for Gowon's guilt, the trial dragged on for almost a year. The trial resulted in tensions among Gowon's family. When well-wishers donated money for his defense, one of his sons absconded with it. The former Chief of Staff then tried to hire an attorney, Caleb Alaka, by promising him a house, but Gowon's wife promptly sued him. She argued that the house in question was rightfully hers. In the end, Alaka still took the case out of respect and pity for the former Chief of Staff. Early in the trial, one person offered Gowon's family and the defense attorney to speak out in favor of the former Chief of Staff in return for a bribe; the family had to refuse, as they were still broke. Though Laki's son had managed to gather evidence which suggested that Gowon was guilty, it was regarded as inadmissible by the judge. The defense attempted to discredit other evidence which had been found by a private investigator who died while the trial was still ongoing, arguing that the latter had died of a mental disorder although he had in fact died of HIV/AIDS. In the middle of the trial, defense attorney Caleb Alaka simply disappeared; he later resurfaced in Western