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On February 27, 2016, a 78-year-old woman named Edna Pierre-Jacques was found dead in her East Flatbush, Brooklyn home. She was a beloved matriarch and deeply connected to her Haitian heritage and the voodoo spiritual practices.
Her granddaughter, Brianna Jean Baptiste, discovered her body in a pool of blood and called 911 right away. Detectives found a bloody hammer and electrical cords beside the body, along with ligature marks on her neck, suggesting she had been strangled.
Police initially focused their attention on her husband, Frederick, who lived in the same house but led a different life. He was found holding a book opened to a page that read "How to get rid of a Witch," along with a burned piece of paper bearing Edna's name. However, forensics ruled him out as a suspect.
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The case took a new direction when detectives unearthed an underground gambling operation in Edna's basement. However, after further investigation, it was found to be unrelated to her murder. Attention then turned to Tamisha Harper, Edna's closest friend, who disappeared after the murder.
Tamisha was found later and confessed to the crime, claiming she had been possessed by spirits during the act. The case will be featured in an upcoming episode titled Deadly Spell on the series New York Homicide on Oxygen, airing on February 1, 2025, at 9:00 PM ET.
The preliminary investigation of Edna Pierre-Jacques's murder
According to Oxygen, police first questioned Edna Pierre-Jacques's husband, Frederick. The couple lived in the same house but led very separate lives. According to the NYPD, Frederick claimed that he didn't hear anything while his wife was being killed in the next room.
According to Oxygen, suspicious findings included a book opened to the page "How to get rid of a witch" and burnt pieces of paper with Edna's name. Given Edna's involvement in voodoo, police suspected there may have been a conflict over her spiritual practices.
However, forensic analysis revealed that Frederick had not used the hammer found at the scene to attack Edna Pierre-Jacques, as reported by Oxygen. The long hours of interrogation and lack of evidence against him cleared him as a suspect. Investigators then turned next to another clue: a game of chance conducted in Edna's basement.
According to Oxygen, fax machines and cash registers were found alongside other items used for gambling. Frederick said they were renting the space to make extra money. However, investigators found no connection between this operation and Edna Pierre-Jacques's murder, as no one had been in the basement on the night of the crime.
A new lead in Edna Pierre-Jacques's murder case: The role of Tamisha Harper
According to Oxygen, as detectives re-examined their leads, family members mentioned Tamisha Harper, a close friend of Edna Pierre-Jacques. Edna's granddaughter, Tatiana Jean Baptiste, noted that Harper was often in the house and well-known to the victim. Following the murder, she disappeared, raising suspicions.
Family members reported seeing her sitting in a car outside Edna's house with her boyfriend, stating she refused to respond when spoken to. She then vanished for two days, missing work and not answering phone calls.
Police became worried that Harper might have fled because she had seen something or was scared of something. They traced her to her mother's house in New Jersey, where she was found tired and confused.
When located, she appeared visibly disturbed and hadn't slept for days. Investigators observed her odd behavior, stating how she rocked back and forth while being questioned. At this point, they suspected she knew more than she had initially let on.
Harper’s confession and sentencing
According to Oxygen, when questioned for more details, Harper shockingly revealed the whole story. She stated that two weeks before Edna Pierre-Jacques's murder, another woman in the neighborhood had accused her of being the reason her boyfriend was attracted to her.
This woman was a devout voodoo practitioner who supposedly placed a curse on Harper. Sensing the impending danger, Harper sought cleansing from Edna. According to Harper's version, the cleansing session turned ugly when Edna Pierre-Jacques looked at her and told her, "You came here to kill me."
Harper stated to the police that she was controlled by spirits during the incident. She strangled Edna using her hands and electrical cords; she then gripped the hammer but could not remember hitting her with it. After the murder, she returned home, bathed, and confessed to her boyfriend, who took her to her mother's house in New Jersey.
Authorities arrested Harper for murder. However, the Kings County District Attorney allowed her to plead guilty to manslaughter. She was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Her boyfriend was not charged in connection with the crime.
Since her conviction, Tamisha Harper has attempted to appeal her case twice, citing mental health issues as a factor in her crime. However, both appeals have been denied.
Watch Deadly Spell on New York Homicide on Oxygen, airing on February 1, 2025, at 9:00 PM ET.
