Jan. 29, 2008 — A St. Thomas man arrested Monday evening on charges he brutally attacked and killed his girlfriend is being held without bail pending the outcome of a pre-trial detention hearing.
Dressed in a red Bureau of Corrections jumpsuit, Lemy Vergile, a native of Haiti, remained calm as V.I. Superior Judge Leon Kendall advised him of his rights on charges of first-degree murder and assault. Vergile showed no emotion as he listened to Police Corporal Delbert Phipps Sr. explain the circumstances surrounding the death of 41-year-old Paulette Joseph, who was found badly beaten and burned Monday evening.
Around 6:11 p.m. Monday police received reports of shots being fired in the area of Frenchman's Bay Estates, Phipps said. A few minutes later, dispatchers put out reports of screams coming from area, along with an eyewitness account of a body being dumped onto a private road from a red Nissan Sentra.
"The person who made the report, along with the passenger traveling with him, followed the red car from the site where the body was dumped to a house in Estate Thomas," Phipps said. "Once there, they observed the driver exit the vehicle, but did not follow him to his door for fear that their lives would be in danger."
Police, meanwhile, were called out to locate the body and found Joseph "lying down on a dirt road." Phipps said he was present when emergency medical technicians examined the body.
"When they were turning the body over, the EMT's noticed a very heavy acidic odor," he explained. "We noticed that the body began to release smoke, as though it was being burnt. That's when we saw that the acid had eaten through most of the victim's outer clothing and had begun to burn through the undergarments. To slow down the deterioration, we attempted to diffuse the acid with water."
Joseph also showed signs of head trauma, and was subsequently transported to Schneider Regional Medical Center, Phipps said, where she was pronounced dead around 9:45 p.m.
Vergile, who was subsequently picked up by police, confessed to the crime, telling investigators he picked up Joseph earlier that afternoon from the Red Hook Ferry Dock and took her to Frenchman's Bay "for a swim," Phipps said.
"He said the two got into an argument that escalated," Phipps explained. "And he told us how he used a rock to smash in her head and how he poured the acid over her body. So he did confess to the act."
Phipps added that Vergile — whose first language is French — was given a translator to talk to the police and voluntarily waived his rights prior to confessing.
"Before he waived his rights, the conversation was conducted via myself and another police officer who was able to talk to Mr. Vergile in his native language," he said. "After he waived his rights, Mr. Vergile began to talk to me fluently in English, telling us everything that happened."
A translator was also present during Tuesday's hearing.
Vergile also faces weapons charges for possession of an unlicensed five-shot revolver police say they found in his vehicle later.
Kendall, who found probable cause to uphold the charges, scheduled Vergile's pre-trial detention hearing for Feb. 7.
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