The Special Investigation team probing the Koodathayi serial murders in Kerala submitted its fifth chargesheet against prime accused Jolly Joseph on Thursday. The 1,069 page chargesheet in the murder of Jolly's father-in-law Tom Thomas cites 175 witnesses and has 173 documents attached. It was submitted at the Thamarassery Judicial First Class Magistrate court by Kozhikode rural SP KG Simon.
Speaking to media after submitting the chargesheet, Simon confirmed that Jolly had slipped cyanide inside Tom's medicines. According to Simon, Tom had the habit of eating Tapioca in the evenings and consuming mushroom capsules for improved cognition.
"On the day of his death, a worker called Sundaran had seen Tom eat the tapioca in the evening. Then he ate the medicines and this was seen by Jolly's older son. Then, Tom sat down to pray and drew the cross. As he drew the cross he collapsed and died," Simon told the media.
A retired assistant education officer, Tom Thomas passed away in 2008, six years after his wife, Annamma died under mysterious circumstances. Jolly had also allegedly tampered with Tom's will to secure the family's wealth. According to Simon, she had diverted funds from Tom to start a real estate business and also take an insurance with LIC.
"Two or three days after Tom's death, Jolly suggested that everyone search the house premises thoroughly to find anything suspicious. When everyone was busy, she slyly slipped in the fabricated will. What's interesting is that, Tom's signature in the will is a photostat. Jolly has photocopied his signature precisely in the spot where the sign is supposed to be put," Simon added.
He also said that Jolly had used a typewriter in the house to type out her name as the will beneficiary.
"We found the typewriter and it has been submitted to the court," he confirmed.
The entire fraudulent deal done carried out using the fabricated will has several witnesses including, Panchayat officers, Village Office employees and the Tahsildar.
"We know that she has transferred Rs 1 lakh to a man to start a real estate business in two transactions of Rs 50,000 each. She even used Tom's money to take an LIC insurance. The LIC employee is also a witness in the case," Simon added.
So far, the Special Investigation Team has submitted chargesheets in four of the Koodathayi serial murders - that of Roy Thomas (Jolly's first husband), Alphine (Jolly's second husband Shaju'sdaughter), City (Shaju's first wife), Mathew Manchadiyil (Roy's uncle). All of the chargesheets name 47-year-old Jolly Joseph as the prime accused.