Koodathayi murders: Jolly wanted to kill her second husband and marry again, say cops
KOZHIKODE: The Koodathayi murder case is getting murkier by the day. According to police inputs, Jolly Joseph, the 47-year old key accused in the serial killings, revealed during her grilling that she was planning to kill her second husband Shaju Sakariya and go in for a third marriage.
"Her intention was to kill Shaju and marry VA Johnson, her close friend. To carry out her plan, she had tried to poison Johnson's wife but didn't succeed. Another benefit Jolly eyed was that if Shaju, a teacher at an aided high school, died in harness, she would get a job," said a police officer.
A close relative of Roy told TNIE that there were issues between Johnson and Jolly, which even snowballed into a police complaint. "Johnson, a BSNL employee, stays within a kilometre of Jolly's house at Ponnamattam. Both came into contact through their children, who were in the same school, and during swimming practice in 2014, after the death of Jolly's first husband Roy Thomas. The two families became closer and began to go on tour during vacations," said the relative.
The frequent visits of Jolly and Johnson to each other's houses triggered gossip as Jolly was a widow. The Vicar of Koodathayi intervened in the matter and censured both Jolly and Johnson.
But the two continued to keep in touch through the phone and Johnson's in-laws brought this to the notice of Jolly's brother in 2016. The relationship with Jolly caused problems in Johnson's marital life too which culminated in Johnson thrashing his wife two years ago. Johnson's wife filed a complaint at Thamarasserry police and the police called both Johnson and Jolly and ticked them off.
Interestingly, during that time, Jolly had just married Shaju Sakariya. "She came to the police station along with her friend, the then Thamarasserry Deputy Tahsildar Jayashree Warrier," said the relative. The allegation against Jayashree is that she helped Jolly forge documents regarding the property of Ponnammatam, which the former denies.
The relative said that there was no record of Johnson's wife falling ill with similar symptoms as the others after taking a drink from Jolly. "Jolly might have given her a poison-laced dish or drink. But, luckily, Johnson's wife did not take it," the relative said.