A 28-year-old mother of four was murdered in her home this morning and the prime suspect is widely known reggae artist and practicing Bobo Shanti Louie Ganzie. His real name is Louie Anthony Gentle and tonight the 29 year old is on the run. Police have circulated posters saying he's wanted for murder. Investigators believe that he brutally and repeatedly stabbed and killed his estranged common-law wife Keisha Sutherland. This morning's murder brought a hellish end to a long history of domestic unrest in the troubled relationship. But no one thought it would have ended in this morning's tragic scene. Keith Swift reports.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Louie Ganzie called Keisha Sutherland his empress. We got to know them as a union of both spirit and song - emperor and empress. They did an impromptu performance at the 7NEWS studio on November seventh of 2001.
[Clip of Performance]
But something went terribly wrong with that picture. This blood stained carpet and this small puddle of blood in the living room is where Keisha fell after she was viciously stabbed 20 times inside her home. Keisha's grandmother is Gilda Johnson. Around 7 this morning she found her granddaughter whimpering and saw Ganzie fleeing.
Gilda Johnson, Grandmother of Deceased
"I heard her saying, 'ah yah yih,' and she dropped down there on the floor and I got up. When I heard her asking for help, I came to see what had happened and when I came out, she was in a pool of blood down there and the boy took his bike and went through the door. All he said was that 'she now knows what I mean.'"
Keith Swift,
You were in your bedroom and what did you hear?
Gilda Johnson,
"I just heard the girl when she was grumbling and I said to myself that they can't quarreling because the other day he had choked her." [Sobbing.]
Keisha was dead and the man family members believe did it is Louis Ganzie -
whose legal name is Louie Gentle - her common-law husband of seven years and the father of two of her children. Family members say the couple's relationship was stormy, and that's to say the least. Last summer, Ganzie along with Keisha moved back here to Keisha's family house on Raccoon Street. In September, Keisha had to take out a restraining order against Louie Ganzie. Family members say that didn't keep him away.
Patrina Copious, Sister of Deceased
"...She dropped back my sister here last night after twelve and he was still here because the children were sleeping. And this morning granny must have been sleeping and they were arguing because she said she doesn't sleep when he is here. She doesn't go into her bed when he is here."
But more than just ignoring a court ordered restraint - her sister Patrina and her brother Leroy Copious say there were obvious signs of abuse from an increasingly jealous and enraged Louie Ganzie.
Patrina Copious, Sister of Deceased
"The other day I saw blood in her eyes and I did not know what went on but I knew it was from
him."
Leroy Copuis, Brother of Deceased
"The restraining order hit him with abuse. She got tired of the abuse. He is the man, imagine he is the man and she has to go and back water for him to bathe and to wash up - she had to do that."
The murder has shocked all who knew Keisha Sutherland - and has left this family both angry and in grief. Una Sutherland is Keisha's paternal grandmother.
Una Sutherland, Grandmother of Deceased
"She was like my daughter. She raised up with the ones I have too, she was for my son. I love Keisha, I love her bad...I just hope God makes peace with her soul."
Leroy Copuis,
"My sister was a calm person. It hurts me a lot, it hurts me to see this. I want to know why he took this far, why did he have to go this far. What made him reach there because I have couple words for him the same way. If it is an affair like they want to put it, it can't be that because he deals with the deepest and baddest affair the same way. I just want to see justice serve and they find him before I find him because once they don't find him, it will be a next way."
Keisha Sutherland was killed with the couple's 2 year old and 11-month-old sons in the house but police believe that they were sleeping. Again Ganzie is on the run and he is a wanted man. As we mentioned, Louie Ganzie is a practicing Bobo Shanti and was a prominent figure in the devout local movement.
This evening the Sons of Negus/Youth Uprising Rastafari Movement issued a press release condemning the murder. They however say that "the devil is working hard in our society to destroy our black family structure." It continues to say that "we know it was a plot." But was it a plot or serial behavior? Later on we'll introduce you to Ganzie's former girlfriend who says he almost killed her 7 years ago.
