Teh One Who Knocks
09-24-2013, 11:21 AM
By Brittany Shammas, Sun Sentinel
http://i.imgur.com/Ud6USA9.jpg
Ranting that demons were coming after her, a Boynton Beach man tried to kill a woman and refused to let her out of her house for 10 hours, according to Boynton Beach police.
The 66-year-old woman woke up late Thursday to Pierre Franchi, 29, grabbing her wrist, according to a police report. He tried choking her with his hands and cords from the blinds in her bedroom. Then he grabbed a pillow and tried to smother her and hit her over the head with a hand held mirror, the report said.
"I have to protect you," Franchi told her, according to the report. "I have to kill the demons."
Hours into the attack, the woman — who hosted the man 10 years ago as a French exchange student and recently let him move back in — escaped to a neighbor's house and called police. Franchi took off in her car, snatching her purse on the way out. Cops arrested him later that day.
The woman has a "motherly affection" for Franchi, according to the report. After the exchange program ended, the two stayed in touch and he moved in with her this year after living in California. Franchi was born in Marseille, France, according to his Facebook page. His arrest report says he's a French citizen.
In January, Franchi spontaneously showed up at the woman's house and asked to live with her again and she agreed.
She told police he often behaves unusually, saying he's prone to rants, spurts of unprompted laughter and excessive chatter. He has never been arrested in Florida, state records show.
On Thursday, the woman confronted Franchi for leaving a wet towel over a chair. The two got into an argument, which lasted for about an hour before the woman ended it and went to bed around 11 p.m.
Three hours later, Franchi woke the woman and the attack began, according to the report. The woman pleaded with him to stop and told him there were no demons, but he continued. Franchi was concerned that she'd call 911 for help, so he broke her cellphone and almost went after a rotary phone, until she told him it was decorative and nonfunctional.
The woman struggled against him and fell to the floor, where Franchi ordered her to bow to him and ripped off her necklace and bracelets, according to the report.
She broke free, went in the bathroom and stayed there for hours. With Franchi standing outside the door demanding she come back out, the woman tried to escape through the window but couldn't. She yelled for help, but he blared music to drown her out, the report states.
When the woman couldn't hear Franchi anymore, she peeked outside the bathroom door, then ran to a neighbor's house. She saw him drive by in her car.
By the time the woman was able to call police, it was after noon Friday. An officer noted she had cuts and bruises all over her body.
Franchi was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on multiple charges, including aggravated battery on a person over 65, false imprisonment, grand theft and depriving use of 911. Late Monday, he remained behind bars in lieu of $30,000 bail, jail records show.
http://i.imgur.com/Ud6USA9.jpg
Ranting that demons were coming after her, a Boynton Beach man tried to kill a woman and refused to let her out of her house for 10 hours, according to Boynton Beach police.
The 66-year-old woman woke up late Thursday to Pierre Franchi, 29, grabbing her wrist, according to a police report. He tried choking her with his hands and cords from the blinds in her bedroom. Then he grabbed a pillow and tried to smother her and hit her over the head with a hand held mirror, the report said.
"I have to protect you," Franchi told her, according to the report. "I have to kill the demons."
Hours into the attack, the woman — who hosted the man 10 years ago as a French exchange student and recently let him move back in — escaped to a neighbor's house and called police. Franchi took off in her car, snatching her purse on the way out. Cops arrested him later that day.
The woman has a "motherly affection" for Franchi, according to the report. After the exchange program ended, the two stayed in touch and he moved in with her this year after living in California. Franchi was born in Marseille, France, according to his Facebook page. His arrest report says he's a French citizen.
In January, Franchi spontaneously showed up at the woman's house and asked to live with her again and she agreed.
She told police he often behaves unusually, saying he's prone to rants, spurts of unprompted laughter and excessive chatter. He has never been arrested in Florida, state records show.
On Thursday, the woman confronted Franchi for leaving a wet towel over a chair. The two got into an argument, which lasted for about an hour before the woman ended it and went to bed around 11 p.m.
Three hours later, Franchi woke the woman and the attack began, according to the report. The woman pleaded with him to stop and told him there were no demons, but he continued. Franchi was concerned that she'd call 911 for help, so he broke her cellphone and almost went after a rotary phone, until she told him it was decorative and nonfunctional.
The woman struggled against him and fell to the floor, where Franchi ordered her to bow to him and ripped off her necklace and bracelets, according to the report.
She broke free, went in the bathroom and stayed there for hours. With Franchi standing outside the door demanding she come back out, the woman tried to escape through the window but couldn't. She yelled for help, but he blared music to drown her out, the report states.
When the woman couldn't hear Franchi anymore, she peeked outside the bathroom door, then ran to a neighbor's house. She saw him drive by in her car.
By the time the woman was able to call police, it was after noon Friday. An officer noted she had cuts and bruises all over her body.
Franchi was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on multiple charges, including aggravated battery on a person over 65, false imprisonment, grand theft and depriving use of 911. Late Monday, he remained behind bars in lieu of $30,000 bail, jail records show.