He always wears a smile. He walks softly and speaks politely. But inside a monster lurks. His right name is Bhola Persaud, but the Village calls him Bodo, short for brother. One day he saw an old man struggling to get into a boat that would take him to his work as a koker attendant far in the backlands.

The Lure
As he helped this decrepit senior, the man’s waist band came loose and something dropped. Bodo picked it up and saw what it was. It was a gold sovereign. “You always walk with this ting?’’ asked Bodo softly.
‘’Eh heh, dis ah me saving, son’ ’you must keep it safety’’ advised Bodo.
As the boat sailed away so too did the twisted mind of Bodo. That sovereign would be his that very night.

Murder
Under the cover of darkness, he hiked his way into the backlands. Hidden under his thick shirt was a tomahawk and a pack of cigarettes. At the koker he offered the old man a smoke and they began chatting. The attendant had no inkling his doom was near. Bodo got up and split the old man’s skull with the axe. He then tore off the waist band and pocketed it. The victim, still alive, stammered ‘Ah know man why…?’’

Insult to Injury
Bodo took a piece of wire and mercilessly sewed the victim’s mouth. Then he dumped him overboard. With his booty, the gold coin, he hurried out of the backdam.
The estate ranger on his routine rounds found the watchman missing and pools of blood. Horrified he raced to report the matter to management. The police were called in. No trace of the victim.

Floating Corpse
Then on the third day a body was found floating by the roadside koker. When fished out it was the dead watchman.

Great Deception
I was 10 years of age and I was on that scene. A huge crowd gathered. The murderer was there too. “Ow me gad who could do dis to dis old man? Only de odder day meh help he to go in a boat to go to work. IF me ketch da man wha do dis, meh strangle he with me bare hands. Ow me Gad! Dey had to sew up he mouth too? Pity!’’
We all shared these sentiments not knowing he was the killer. That gruesome crime went unsolved for a long time.

Gold Lady
Estate life was boring. One routine – rise in the morning, go to work, arrive back in the afternoon, do your cooking and sleep. So the churches, wedding and funerals attract lots of people. A popular man passed on. The entire village turned out to bid him farewell. And among them is the ‘’gold lady.’’ So called because of the splendid gold jewellery she wore. And she graced all occasion. She lived alone…a widow.

Evil Eyes
At this funeral while all were sad and viewing the dead, she was the focus of an evil eye. Those pieces captivated him. He must have them. She was sending off her villager-the next time it would be she getting an obituary. At afternoon Bodo followed her. He saw where she lived. That night at 12:30, He broke into her house and demanded the gold .He stripped off all she had on her ears and fingers. But he wanted the bangles and gallihair. She refused to reveal where she hid them.

Off With The Head
And in passion Bodo swiped off her head. I was on that scene. I still recall that head with eyes wide open and blood soaked hair. And the body left in a crumpled form. Blood everywhere. It was frightening. So cruel!
The police was quick to respond. Some folks saw Bodo following the victim. And the police labelled him No 1 suspect.

Money at Last
They went to his house. No one was at home. He and his wife had gone to the city to pawn the gold.
But his daughter was at school. They contacted her. She said when she came downstairs that morning she saw clothes in a tub and the water was red. She said she asked her mother why her father played Phagwah, when Phagwah when it had already passed. She was told to shut up.

Tangible Evidence
The police broke into the yard and retrieved the blood-soaked clothes. They nabbed Bado that night. Tests reveal that he was their man. All were shocked. How could this ‘’angel’’ do this?
It didn’t take long for a jury to find Bodo guilty. He was sentenced to death by hanging. Knowing that he would die, he confessed to the murder of the watchman. This admission sent further shock waves in the estate.
While all were stricken with disbelief, one man danced. He was a villager named Fisher, the country’s hangman. As he passed through the village that morning he hollered: “A gone tek he neck today. And ah gon spring he two times. That bastard!’’ Some shouted ‘’get he Fisher, get he!’’

Hang’s man Delight
That afternoon as the hangman returned a bit intoxicated he rambled on and on. ‘’Boy see him dance when I drop de trap door. I clapped. Ah give he another two for two lives gone from dis village. Son of a bitch ah de want to axe he head and sew up he mouth’’.
Fisher the Hero
Fisher was a hated man in the area. He lived alone on a lonely dam. All avoided him. His past time was to hang cats and dogs. As a boy I was deathly afraid to pass by his house. But that day Bodo met his end on the gallows, Fisher was our hero. The dam he lived on is named after him. Today the sound of ‘’Fisher Dam “still generates fear of a man who enjoys ‘’breaking the neck’’ of criminals.
Upon his death, no one took this job and eventually capital punishment by hanging has abolished.
Bodo, the “angel’’ did reveal the monster in him. This frail man snuffed two lives out in such a horrible way. All for gold.
That precious metal still produces monsters who worship it