Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Suspected wife-killer ‘Frenchie’ caught after eight yrs on the run
They’ve finally got him.
After almost eight years on the run, alleged killer Charles Chapman, called ‘Frenchie’, will finally be placed behind bars for the March 12, 2009 murder of his reputed wife Savitri Arjune.
Chapman, who is now around 62, was arrested yesterday at a house at Limlair, Corentyne, where he had been living for the past three years. He was reportedly living there for the past three years with a friend, but it is unclear whether the individual was aware that Chapman was a fugitive.
At the time of his arrest, the former soldier and seaman reportedly sported long hair and a heavy beard, and looked nothing like the individual in the photograph that was posted of him several years ago.
According to one report, police arrested Chapman after a resident tipped them off. However, another source said that police ranks detained him in connection with a wounding report. The ranks were reportedly unaware of Chapman’s identity, but realised that he was not from the area.
But they reportedly became suspicious after he stated that he was from Herstelling, East Bank Demerara. Under interrogation, Chapman reportedly admitted that he was wanted for Arjune’s murder.
Police said that he stated that he had been living in Surname, and only returned to Guyana three years ago.
Police levelled charges against Chapman for Arjune’s murder while he was on the run.
Chapman was 54, and was a mini-bus operator, when he allegedly stabbed his reputed wife to death at around 06:15 hrs on Thursday, March 12, 2009.
Savitri Arjune, 34, called ‘Savi’, who last resided at Lot 382 Herstelling, was heading to work when she was ambushed and stabbed multiple times a short distance from her home.
Arjune, who is survived by two children, was in the vicinity of Rum Shop Road and the East Bank Demerara public road when the suspect, who was allegedly hiding near his bus, pounced on her.
The woman, who had endured a stormy eight-year relationship with the suspect, collapsed and died on the spot from stab wounds to the heart and side.
An autopsy revealed that she was stabbed three times with “a very long knife.”
After she collapsed, Chapman reportedly boarded the vehicle and drove to Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, where he abandoned the vehicle.
Chapman had also spoken via his mobile phone with a Kaieteur News reporter some four hours after the killing.
During the conversation, he stated that he befriended the mother of two when he was a seaman. At the time, he was residing in Berbice with his wife and family.
The suspect said that he left his wife and moved into a house with Arjune.
But he alleged that Arjune was constantly unfaithful to him.
Chapman had claimed that he was the abused partner in the eight-year relationship. He also indicated that he would take his own life rather than “punish in jail”.
“I will not to go to jail and punish. I ain’t going to jail to sit down three, four years for my case start. I too old fuh that.”
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