Malherbe Francois murders his lover, a ‘cross dressing vodoo priest’ with ‘magic powder’ in a bottle, it was ‘self defense’
A Florida man has claimed self-defense for the murder a “cross-dressing voodoo priest” (vodou actually) who the man claims threatened to kill him.
A heated situation in North Miami-Dade resulted Malherbe Francois gunning down a cross-dressing vodoo priest when the man supposedly threatened to kill him with “some sort of magic powder” in a bottle.
Francois accepted a plea deal this week, admitting to the murder of Beauglais Bazelais in February 2013, withdrawing his self-defense argument. Now Francois, 24, must serve 15 years in prison on his conviction for second-degree murder.
Malherbe Francois
For prosecutors, they knew a jury might have real questions about whether Francois legally acted in self-defense in killing his older lover, even though the man was not armed when shot. Prosecutors added that the case was complicated due to the “religious undertones” of the story, prosecutors said.
“These concerns were discussed with the next of kin, who agreed with the negotiated plea, in order to provide a sense of closure and finality with the case,” prosecutor Paige Saperstein wrote in a final memo on the case.
The Haitian vodou religion, which blends Catholic beliefs with the worship of African deities, is deeply rooted in the island’s culture and also widely practiced outside of Haiti.
Back in February 2013, police discovered Bazelais, 44, shot to death in the doorway of his home. Francois later surrendered to police. His detailed account is below.
Bazelais often dressed as a woman in public and invited Francois, who was homeless, to live with him in the home, the report by Miami-Dade Detective Michael Scott said. Francois told police that Bazelais drugged him before the first time they had sex. They soon became lovers, noting that Bazelais liked to say they were married.
On the morning before the shooting, Bazelais had gone to a North Miami-Dade cemetery to “collect souls for a vodou ceremony.” Francois was out on the streets.
While at the cemetery, Bazelais called Francois demanding that he return to the home. When Francois did, Bazelais was there with another Haitian man “and a spirit.”
But Bazelais’ possessive streak continued later that day when Francois went to a local park to hang out with a girlfriend. Bazelais sent angry text messages demanding that Francois come home.
When Francois finally returned home that night, around 11 p.m., the vodou priest and a group of other men were watching ceremony videos on a computer. After the men left, Francois began packing a bag to leave the home. Bazelais began to threaten him if he left, the man told police.
“I could do what the hell I want and I’m doing to make sure you are dead,” Bazelais yelled at him, Francois claimed to police.
Francois grabbed a Glock .40-caliber pistol from the kitchen cabinet as Bazelais then “began walking toward him with a white or yellow magic substance on his hands,” the police report said.
Francois fired three times, killing Bazelais and then walked to a nearby gas station, bought Black & Mild cigars and called 911 to report the shooting.
He was booked into jail, but not before Miami-Dade homicide detectives bought him a Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich, fries and an orange soda.
