The Justice Department says a Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to charges of a gruesome murder on a scallop fishing boat 55 miles of coast of Nantucket.
Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.
Vazquez’ attacks took place on Sept. 23, 2018, on The Captain Billy Haver, an 82-foot fishing with seven people on board. The Justice Department says the attacks started when Vazquez hit Victim A over the head with a hammer in the shucking house and knocked him unconscious.
Then, according to the Justice Department, Vazquez walked on deck and stabbed Victim B several times with a long fillet knife. Victim C, hearing the commotion, climbed up from the ice hold and Vazquez hit him in the head; he fell back down the ladder, bleeding from his skull.
The captain tried to subdue Vazquez, but Vazquez climbed up to the top of the rigging mast.
The captain then made a Mayday call asking for help. “We have a man gone crazy on the boat here,” he said. You can hear a Coast Guard recording of the call below.
A rescue boat took Victims A and B to a German cruise ship, the Mein Schiff 6, which heard the Mayday, for medical attention. A doctor on board pronounced Victim B dead.
Vazquez remained at top of mast until a 270-foot Coast Guard cutter arrived that evening and the crew took him into custody. The cutter delivered Vazquez to Federal law enforcement officials in Boston the next day.
The government says that Vazquez is in the U.S. illegally. The charge of second-degree murder provides for sentence up to life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 28. Read more at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/virginia-man-pleads-guilty-murder-aboard-commercial-scalloping-boat and hear the recording below (start at 2:55 in):
