Hours after the murder of Mr Eric Johnson, the owner of the Royal Cosy Hills Hotel in the Upper West Region, went viral on social media, JoyNews has received exclusive details from sources close to the family and workers at the facility.

While available information indicated that Mr Johnson, the owner of the facility popularly called Jirapa Dubai was found murdered in one of the rooms in the hotel, JoyNews can confirm that the deceased was rather found dead in his private residence which shares boundary with the hotel.

According to sources, the murder took place before 1:30 am since his stolen vehicle was driven out of his residence by the assailant(s) around that time.

It has been confirmed that Mr Johnson's attacker used a ladder to climb over his wall and subsequently used a master card to gain access to his room.

Mr. Johnson is also believed to have finished taking his bath before the attack. He was found in his towel on the floor with deep wounds on his body suspected to have been inflicted by his killer.

His car key was then stolen and his personal car driven out of the compound. The car was however found abandoned in town.

Giving more details, JoyNews' Rafiq Salam learnt that the security personnel at the residence opened the gate for the 'driver' of the car after he drove to the entrance and honked.

It is alleged that the security man assumed Mr Johnson was the one driving out of the facility.

Meanwhile, one person has been detained by the police to assist with the investigation. Additionally, the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Upper West Regional Hospital morgue.

Find the official statement from the police below: