Frederick Francis murdered Austrian visitors Bernhard Bolzano and his fiance Barbara Frelin von Perfall last July after raping von Perfall and robbing the couple in their hotel room at the Bimini Blue Water Resort, a 12-member jury found yesterday.
Frederick Francis was found guilty of the murder of two Austrian tourists yesterday, armed robbery and rape. The prosecution intends to seek the death penalty.
Francis appeared to display no emotion as the guilty verdicts were returned on four counts. It took the jury approximately three hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts on two counts of murder and 10-2 verdicts on the charges of rape and armed robbery.
The murder trial, which is the last major one for the current session, lasted for almost two weeks with the court hearing from Francis who maintained his innocence just one day before the jury decided his fate.
With the guilty verdicts returned, Prosecutor Sandradee Gardiner told the court that the prosecution will seek the death penalty.
Moments after the trial ended, Ms. Gardiner told reporters that the jury took its time in deliberating a serious matter and she was satisfied with the outcome.
“I believe the jury verdict reflected the evidence of the prosecution and once the jury has spoken that is it,” Ms. Gardiner said.
“They represent the consciences of this community, and if they say justice requires a guilty verdict, thatﾒs what they return and so we feel that weﾒre comfortable and satisfied that they gave the right verdict,” she said.
Francisﾒ attorney, Carlson Shurland said he wants his client to be given a psychiatric evaluation before the sentencing hearing, which is tentatively set for September 18, 2006.
He admitted that he had “very little ammunition” with which to fight the charges.
“It was like trying to scale Mount Everest without a rope or any assistance. Youﾒre dealing with two confessions, a videotape confession, which is extremely powerful evidence, a written confession. That is a major hurdle to overcome. I did the best I can in terms of representation, that was some major barriers that were put in front of me,” he said.
Mr. Shurland said he intends to perhaps save his clientﾒs soul and said Francis appeared to be “in good spirits” after the guilty verdict.
Before the deliberations, Justice Stephen Isaacs told jurors they were the judges in the trial and that they can decide what evidence or facts to accept and reject.
Justice Isaacs reminded jurors not to pay attention to anything they may have read in the media and to look at the facts objectively.
The judge also said that what it boiled down to was whether they accepted Francisﾒ unsworn statement of innocence or the testimony of the two police officers, Sergeant Daryl Rolle and Inspector Cleophas Cooper, who had interviewed him.
Francis had told the jury that he had been abused by the officers while being interrogated, even to the point of almost losing consciousness when Inspector Cooper had allegedly placed three plastic bags over his head a number of times.
A housekeeper found the bodies of Bolzano and von Perfall at the Bimini Blue Water Resort on July 23, 2005, naked with a single gunshot wound to each of their bodies. Ms. Von Perfall had also sustained an injury to her head as a result of Francis hitting her with the blunt end of the shotgun, after he had raped her.
By: Courtnee Romer, The Bahama Journal
