42-year-old Francis Bennett is sitting in jail tonight accused of stabbing his landlord to death. The 42 year old was arraigned in court this afternoon on a charge of manslaughter, not murder as might have been expected.
Police say that late Wednesday night Bennett was overheard arguing with his landlord 57-year-old Otilio Pacheco. Later that night Pacheco's body was found in the living room of his St. Thomas Street home with a stab wound to the stomach. A post mortem showed that's what killed him and police say they believe Bennett who was renting a room from Pacheco issued the fatal blows. Police say they don't know what the argument was about but the two were drinking when it is believed that the landlord pulled a knife. Despite pleas by his attorney, Mansel Thurton, Magistrate Margaret Gabb-McKenzie refused Bennett bail and he was remanded to the Hattieville prison until October 4th.