AFTER being on the run for almost nine years, alleged wife killer Charles ‘Frenchie’ Chapman confessed to police that he killed his reputed wife Savitri Arjune on January 27, 2008 at Herstelling , East Bank Demerara after a misunderstanding .Deputy Commander of ‘B’ Division, Errol Watts told this newspaper that Chapman’s last known address was Limlair Village, Corentyne, where he was arrested for wounding. But an alert policeman stationed at Whim Police Station, knew the suspect and recalled that he was wanted for murder and informed his superiors.

Chapman was taken to Central Police Station, in New Amsterdam where he submitted a written statement confessing to the crime which left Savitri Arjune, a mother of two dead after she sustained a stab wound to the heart, among other injuries.

On the fateful day, just after 06:00hrs Arjune, who had shared an eight-year relationship with the suspect left her home at 382 Herstelling, East Bank Demerara ,with the intention of catching a minibus to get to work in Georgetown. As she walked along a partly deserted roadway, the suspect emerged, allegedly armed with a knife, which he used to inflict the fatal wounds. The woman collapsed and he calmly boarded a minibus, which was parked nearby and drove to Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara, where he left the vehicle.

The incident stemmed from allegations of infidelity. Chapman, a former seaman and a soldier, claimed he had left his wife and children and had commenced a common-law relationship with the now deceased woman. However, she squandered his money and rejected him. Thereafter he became the ‘laughing stock’ of her family. As a result he got annoyed and committed the heinous act. Subsequently, he fled to Suriname, where he remained a fugitive for many years before returning to his homeland, where he stayed at Limlair Village.

Meanwhile, after submitting his statement late yesterday afternoon, he was whisked away to the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters where a charge of murder will be instituted.