Tuschen triple murder… Police apprehend suspect in Tuschen backdam

POLICE from West Demerara apprehended Joshua Franklin, wanted for questioning in relation to the murders of his nine-year-old stepdaughter; his mother-in-law; and Floyd Drakes, his reputed wife’s male friend, at Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo in the wee hours of December 18, 2014.

Joshua Franklin is in police custody.
Joshua Franklin is in police custody.

Franklin’s arrest reportedly took place in the Tuschen backdam at about 08:00 hours onBoxing Day. He is presently in custody at Wales Police Station, and would be charged and arraigned in court on Monday.

‘D’ Division Commander Ian Amsterdam had assured the public that it was only a matter of time before Joshua Franklin was apprehended and he credited Franklin’s arrest to cooperation between the police and the community.

Amsterdam told this publication that the police had to travel about three-quarters of a mile behind the village before they located the suspect; and he did not resist arrest, although he had been moving in and out of the backdam.

The Commander added that Franklin had been spotted in the village several times at nights, but persons were afraid to apprehend him, so they related the relevant information to the police which led to his arrest on Boxing Day.

Amsterdam said the police had learnt that Franklin had contacted a section of the print media via telephone, and their intelligence sleuths had been working to have that telephone number traced in an effort to locate him.
In the mayhem he created on December 18, Franklin had also chopped his reputed wife Geeta Boodhoo multiple times about the body, but she was able to cheat death by escaping from the house and secreting herself in the verandah of a neighbour’s house.
She has lost her left hand from the wrist down in that cutlass attack, and has since undergone surgical operation, being in need of ‘O’ positive blood at the GPHC.

Her five children are presently staying with her sister, and she has since been alerted about the suspect’s presence in the community.
Franklin has allegedly confessed to a private newspaper via telephone that he has been responsible for the slayings, and he has reportedly said he would ‘finish off’ his reputed wife and her sister, whom he blames for their domestic problems.

Last week the seemingly ‘quiet’ cane cutter, in a fit of rage, broke into the home he once shared with Boodhoo and hacked to death her alleged lover, his mother-in-law, and step daughter, besides chopping her several times.

The body of Floyd Drakes was found at the rear of the yard behind a latrine, while the body of nine-year-old Ashley Boodhoo was discovered in the kitchen, and her grandmother’s body was found in the living room where the attack started after Franklin had broken into the house.

Bibi Zalima Khan, 55, and nine-year-old Ashley Boodhoo were laid to rest according to Muslim rites on December 19, 2014 following a post-mortem.

Police reported that Khan, Boodhoo and Floyd Drakes all died as a result of multiple incised wounds to the body.

The rest of Geeta Boodhoo’s children, including twins, survived the brutal cutlass attack by hiding under a bed.

Franklin’s son, who resides in a cottage in the same yard as the Boodhoos, was arrested but has since been released from custody.

He was held for questioning since sleuths believe he had a hand in the murder of Floyd Drakes.

It was reported that he may have helped his father to subdue Drakes after Drakes had fled the house and was cornered at the back of the yard.

(Michel Outridge)

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