Kottayam woman’s murder: Husband’s alleged affairs, property disputes likely motive

Ettumanoor: Police have arrested 59-year-old Sam K George in Mysuru, Karnataka, in connection with the murder of his wife, Jesy Sam (49), of Kappadakkunel House near Ratnagiri Church, Kaanakkari. Her body was recovered from a gorge at Cheppukulam, Idukki.

An Iranian woman who was with him was also detained but later released after police seized her phone for investigation.

According to police, the murder followed a confrontation in which Jesy accused Sam of extramarital affairs. Sam, an IT professional, had also been pursuing a graduate course in Travel and Tourism at MG University, where the Iranian woman was his batchmate. Authorities stated that he later dropped out of the course.

Jesy’s body was recovered from a depth of 50 feet at the Cheppukulam viewpoint in Udumbannoor, Idukki. Sam and Jesy had been living separately for the past 15 years on different floors of the same house due to a longstanding marital discord. On the night of September 26, an argument broke out between them at the sit-out area of their Kaanakkari residence. Sam reportedly sprayed pepper spray on Jesy before smothering her in the bedroom with a bath towel. He then placed her body in his car boot, transported it to Cheppukulam and dumped it into the gorge around 1 am. Sam fled to Mysore thereafter.

The couple had been involved in property disputes before the court, with Sam owning 4.5 acres at Areekkara in Uzhavoor and flats in Goa and Kovalam. Police said a belief that these disputes could be decided in Jesy’s favour may have provided additional motive for the killing. Jesy and Sam had three children, including two sons, aged 25 and 23 and a daughter, aged 28. All three children are now living abroad. The case came to light after the children filed a missing person complaint when they were unable to reach their mother despite making repeated calls.

Murder uncovered by children’s complaint
Police revealed that Sam had enrolled in a Travel and Tourism degree course at MG University at the age of 59. Jesy and their children had been living on the upper floor of the house for years due to his habit of bringing other women to the residence. A week before the murder, a brawl erupted when another woman visited the house with Sam. Over the past six months, Jesy had been living alone upstairs after her children moved abroad for studies and work. Concerned about her sudden disappearance, the children lodged a complaint with the police.

Sam and Jesy were married in 1994 in Viveknagar, Bengaluru, although their marriage was never officially registered. The investigation was led by a team including Vaikom DYSP T P Vijayan, SHO E Ajeeb, SI Mahesh Krishnan, V Vinod Kumar, ASI T H Niyas and CPO Prem Kumar, under the directive of District Police Chief Shahul Hameed.

Meticulously planned murder
Police said Sam had planned the murder carefully. Ten days before the killing, he had visited the Cheppukulam viewpoint to survey the location. On the day of the crime, he returned home by 6 pm and an argument broke out with Jesy at the sit-out itself. Enraged, he sprayed her with pepper spray, dragged her into a bedroom and strangled her to death. Knowing Cheppukulam was a location frequented by travellers even late at night, Sam transported her body there, arriving around 1 am, to dispose of it.

Police tracked Sam through CCTV footage, which showed him reaching Thodupuzha before fleeing to Mysore with the Iranian woman. The body, in a decayed state, was recovered from a depth of 50 metres by the Fire and Safety Department in Thodupuzha and shifted to Kottayam Medical College for postmortem. The investigation was jointly conducted by Kuravilangad and Karimannur police.