Tuschen triple murder…No surrender until I finish off wife, sister

Dec 22, 2014 News

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– killer tells KNews

By Michael Jordan and Romila Boodram

The hunt for Tuschen triple murder suspect Jerome Franklin took a disturbing turn yesterday, after a man claiming to be the alleged killer contacted Kaieteur News to disclose events that led to the slaughter of his mother-in-law, his nine-year-old stepdaughter, his rival, and the maiming of his spouse.
The caller also made it clear that, for him, the killing would not stop until he had “dealt with” his wounded reputed wife and lone survivor, Geeta Boodhoo, and her sister.

“I don’t intend to surrender. I want my wife’s sister; she is the key to my problems,” the caller said. Indicating that he also planned to kill his wife, “if they don’t ketch me first,” the caller said: “Me waiting for she to come out (of hospital).”
In the approximately 20-minute conversation, ‘Franklin’ confessed to slaughtering his reputed wife’s mother, Bibi Zalima Khan and his spouse’s alleged lover, Floyd Drakes.
Expressing not a shred of remorse, he also admitted to chopping his reputed wife and lone survivor, Geeta Boodhoo.
But he vehemently denied killing his nine-year-old stepdaughter, Ashley Boodhoo. He claimed that it was his mother-in-law, Bibi Khan, who accidentally hacked the child to death while attempting to chop him.
The caller claiming to be Franklin also expressed anger that police have detained his son as an accomplice in the three murders.
A senior police official confirmed that detectives have detained Franklin’s son, because they suspect that an accomplice helped Franklin to murder the alleged lover, Floyd Drakes.
Kaieteur News was told that Drakes sustained at least 25 cutlass wounds.
During the conversation, the man claiming to be Jerome Franklin portrayed himself as a hard-working cane-cutter who provided for his family, while his spouse frittered away his earnings. He also indicated that he eventually snapped last Thursday over his reputed wife’s blatant infidelity.

He alleged that his spouse and another female relative would habitually bring women and men into the house, while his mother-in-law “played music.”
He said that things escalated last September when the court granted his wife a restraining order after she claimed that he had threatened her life. This meant that he could not enter the family’s Tuschen home.
‘Franklin’ alleged that on Thursday night, a taxi driver, who is his close friend, tipped him off that he had dropped Franklin’s spouse and a man into Tuschen Housing Scheme. The taxi driver, ‘Franklin’ claimed, indicated that he suspected that the two were heading for the house that Franklin and his estranged wife had once shared.
‘Franklin’ said that he immediately contacted his mother-in-law, Bibi Khan, by phone.
“I call and the mother answer, and I tell she to tell she daughter to get that man out of the house because I got my children inside, and the mother-in-law suck she teeth and hang up,” the caller claimed.
“I go to the home and my mother-in-law, my wife and the man inside drinking and smoking weed and playing music. I rip down the window and go in the house, and I deal with the wife.”
He claimed that Bibi Khan, his mother-in law, picked up a cutlass and tried to chop him, but accidentally chopped and killed nine-year-old Ashley Boodhoo.
“I mind that child from one year, and when I see that I deal with (killed) the mother-in law.”
“I want the public to know that I didn’t kill that child.”
He said that he then turned on his rival, Floyd Drakes, who began to plead for his life.
“The man say ‘soldier man, I ain’t know what going on,’ and I say ‘this is my house. A man and woman got an affair, don’t take it into the house.’ The caller said that he then killed Drakes.
However, although badly chopped, his spouse, 30-year-old Geeta Boodhoo,  managed to flee to a neighbour’s house.
A distraught Boodhoo recalled that her ordeal began at around 00.30 hrs last Saturday.
“Me and my mother were drinking and I see somebody lashing the windows. Then he (Franklin) jump in the house and he started chopping me and my mother all over. While he chopping my mom, I run out the house.”
With her left hand hacked off and bleeding from wounds to her head and right arm, the wounded Geeta Boodhoo managed to stay on her feet and flee to a neighbour’s house.
“He run behind me. I run up the neighbour step and I lie down on the verandah and when I raised up, I see him standing over me. I wanted to scream but something tell me to stay quiet,” Boodhoo said.
“He look around and he walked away. The place was dark so he didn’t see me. If he had only take one step forward, he would have stepped on me and that is when I would have been dead.”
According to Boodhoo, after several minutes had passed,  one of her daughters came to the neighbour’s residence and told her that Ashley Boodhoo had died.
“I couldn’t do anything when I heard because I couldn’t move. Blood was spraying from all parts of my body. My hand and head was hurting more because that’s where I get bad chop,” the woman recalled.
Almost in tears, she said that she and her reputed husband separated some three months ago.
“He was placed on a bond. He was not suppose to come around by me but his son lives at the back of me so I think he was the one who called Franklin and tell him that I was at home,” Boodhoo related.
Kaieteur News was told that Franklin appeared in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court sometime in October last.
He was placed on a three month bond for threatening to harm his spouse.
The mother of four of Franklin’s children said that she believes her reputed husband is in Suriname since he has more relatives over there than here.
The 30-year-old waitress denied knowing Floyd Drakes, her alleged lover.
This is despite the fact that Drakes’ bloodied body was discovered by investigators in a clump of bushes at the back of Boodhoo’s house, near to an outhouse some several hours after police had first found the bodies of the nine-year-old and Khan.
Boodhoo’s mother and daughter were laid to rest last Friday.

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