The story of John Higgs

During the month of October I like to highlight unusual or scary Bahamian stories this year one of the stories I focused on was the story of John Higgs ⬇️ read below In the beginning of 2000 As talks of Y2K shook the world The Bahamas was facing much bigger problems with the upcoming execution of John Higgs alongside 2 other men . Higgs cheated the gallows to make a political statement and caused much havoc in life and in death. Before his fall from grace John Higgs was a well known beautician in The Bahamas ,his work was admired by many and he made a living from his craft. In 1993 John Higgs stuffed his wife Joan Butler under a staircase of an unfinished building. In 1995 he went to trial where he was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife and by July of 1997 there was a warrant for his execution for killing his wife. While conducting my research I couldn’t help but think how does the granddaughter of the first Bahamian Governor General go missing without much investigation as to what happened to her. The events and drama surrounding this story unfortunately got more coverage than the actual death of Joan Butler. John Higgs was set to be hanged on January 6th 2000 but he decided to take his own life by slitting his wrists 2 days before to make a political statement.

John hid his bloody wrists in his slop bucket while it filled with blood. With a great amount of blood lost he had fallen off the bed and was taken to the sick bay in her majesty’s prison where they unsuccessfully tried to revive him. He was then taken to PMH and was pronounced dead at 2am according to the Tribune The tribune states that prison guards were given a tip months prior to the death that Higgs had a razor blade, and a search was done but nothing was found A week before Higgs death his lawyer Phillip Davis told him that from a legal standpoint all avenues of appeal had been exhausted. Davis said “He told me he wasn’t going to be hanged. I was taking it in the context he had some hope” John Higgs intended to make a political statement with his death so he left a bloody note in his cell with the title “unethical politicians”

Higgs claims that unethical politicians were using capital punishment to win public support Another note he wrote said “This is not the way I wanted my life to end, but because of an unjust nation, I chose this way to exit. Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing. I am not guilty of killing my wife I am guilty of taking my life” John Higgs thanked the guard on duty for turning a blind eye by saying “no name no blame” the guard on duty claims he had nothing to do with the suicide attempt This letter was smuggled out of prison and read on More FM Radio by Mr. Obediah Wilchcombe.

On February 3rd Wilchcombe was kept in jail for contempt of court for refusing to give information about how he got a letter written by a death row inmate. Wilchcombe stood by his principle that a journalist should not reveal their sources. The plague of murders in this family doesn’t end there, 20 years after John Higgs was charged in court for the death of Joan Butler Joan’s mother 81 year old Princess Butler was killed by her son Jerome Butler. According to the Tribune An autopsy revealed that she died of asphyxia and as a result of finding facial bruises and internal injuries about her body, police launched an investigation. Jerome Butler also admitted to taking photos of his mother’s dead body before alerting anyone. This story, with its many holes leaves me with many questions. Why does a death row inmate have access to writing utensils, paper and a razor? Why is he left unsupervised long enough to execute his plans perfectly? What would drive a man to kill his 81 year old mother? There is a lack of detail on the killing of Joan Butler because He maintained his innocence throughout the whole ordeal. It leads me to question was the true killer ever found?