‘An almost perfect suspect’

Lucia Pulici (75), Olga Raschietti (82) and Bernadette Boggian (79), three Italian nuns of the Xaverian congregation were killed in the Kamenge parish on Sunday 7th and Monday 8th September. The police report the apprehension of the suspected killer: a mentally ill young man.-By Christian Bigirimana. Translated from French by J.Berchmans Siboniyo

The convent where the three nuns were killed ©Iwacu

Sadness and worries prevail at Kamenge parish, also known as Kwa Buyengero, on Monday morning. The population has learned of the assassination of another Italian nun, Bernadette Boggian, of the same Xaverian congregation, after the two killed at 5PM the previous day.  It all began on Sunday September 7th; at about 1PM. Sister Bernadette Boggian catches someone in the kitchen and asks him what he is doing there, if he wants food. The person asks her for a glass of water. Suddenly he attempts to grab the missionary’s watch. Three gatekeepers come in to help and start beating the intruder. Father Mario Pulcini tells them to stop beating him and accompany him outside instead.
After the incident, Boggian goes to the Bujumbura International Airport to welcome guests among whom were two nuns of the Xaverian congregation. The sisters Olga Raschietti and Lucia Pulici stay at home, arranging the rooms for the guests.

The macabre surprise

Bernadette Boggian and the guests arrive at the parish at around 4PM. She calls Olga and Lucia. No reply. The convent’s door is locked. She tries to call them through the window, but there is no reply. She then calls Father Mario Pulcini, who sends the gatekeepers to check if the nuns are outside: “They often go out in the evening to assist sick people.”. The gatekeepers come back without them. Father Mario Pulcini decides to break in the convent’s door. What a horrible surprise. Lucia Pulici and Olga Raschieti are found dead, strangled. Olga was lying in her room in a pool of her own blood. Lucia was in the sitting room. Clothes, money, everything was there, well arranged. Nothing was stolen.

The police and Media are called. The responsible of the Catholic Church, Damien Baseka, the administrator of Kamenge commune and Pierre Nkurikiye, the assistant of the police’s spokesman arrive at the crime scene. The bodies are taken to the mortuary of Roi Khaled hospital where a physician examines them. The conclusion? No rape before the assassination.

The horror comes back in the late night

Father Mario Pulcini, Bernadette Boggian and other missionaries come back at the parish around 11PM. The Father asks the nuns to spend the night somewhere else, but they refuse.
The police propose to stay inside the compound to secure the place. The Father replies that the police may stay outside the parish compound. Many policemen secure the place at night, but they cannot prevent criminals to come back at around 2AM to strangle another nun, Sr.Bernadette Boggian.

On September 8th, Father Mario Pulcini is awoken by Clementine Mbombo, the convent’s Mother Superior: “She told me that she had heard noise from Bernadette’s room. But I believed it was a nightmare because of what happened and I told her to go back to sleep.” Some minutes later, the Mother Superior awakens him again. He goes to see what it is and finds horror in Bernadette’s room. The body is tied up, lying in her own blood. She is beheaded. The sister will be taken to the hospital at 5 AM
At 9AM, the Minister of the Public Security, the Police Director and many other high authority figures arrive at the parish. Prosper Bazombanza, the First Vice President, joins them. In the dialogue with Father Mario Pulcini he promises that the government will do everything to arrest and punish the criminals.