Man allegedly confesses to dumping grandma’s body after accidently hitting her

Mar 24, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The grandson of the murdered Charlestown woman, Patricia Bovell, 88, has allegedly confessed to dumping her body in the empty lot opposite her house after accidently hitting her.

Bovell’s grandson, Yonick Gilpin, 27, is in police custody for her death and he told police that he might have accidently killed her around 04:00hrs on Sunday.  He told police that he was in the bottom flat of his grandmother’s two-storey home when he heard a tumbling sound coming from upstairs. Gilpin allegedly went upstairs to see what had happened and heard his grandmother shouting “murder, murder, thief, thief”.  He claimed that he entered and found his grandmother naked and sitting on the floor with her dentures beside her. Gilpin alleged that he made some checks but saw no one inside his grandmother’s apartment and as he was about to leave his left foot hit the woman’s head while he walked pass her.

The empty lot where Bovell’s body was found

Bovell, according to Gilpin, fell on a rug and hit her head again. She became motionless and failed to respond. Gilpin told police that he became afraid at this point and wrapped Bovell in a sheet. He then fetched her downstairs and placed her in an old fridge and waited until no one was around the area to dump the body in an empty lot opposite the house. On Sunday night when his cousin visited and asked for Bovell, Gilpin reportedly said that he took her to a city hospital after she complained of feeling unwell.  According to detectives, after relatives could not find her at the hospital, they reported her missing. Police launched an investigation and had detained Gilpin for questioning and he maintained that he had taken his grandmother to the hospital in a taxi. Bovell could not be found at any hospital so police returned to the area and learnt from neighbours that they heard screams of murder during the wee hours of Sunday. They even told the cops that Bovell’s screams lasted for some ten minutes before it went silent.  The detectives reportedly interviewed Gilpin a second time about the whereabouts of his grandmother but he maintained his story.

Gilpin only confessed to dumping the woman’s body after it was discovered on Wednesday morning some two days after she was allegedly killed.

• confess, Gilpin, murder, Patricia Bovell, Russel Street