HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - The 17-year-old daughter of a Hollywood woman who, police said, was beaten to death by her husband said she is struggling to cope with what she saw.
The teen, who asked not to be identified or show her face on camera, said she never imagined her father, 49-year-old Claude Sejour, could be capable of murdering her mother, 40-year-old Marie Joseph. “He always said he was going to kill her, but I would never think that he would do such a thing,” she said.
But on Wednesday night, that’s exactly what police said happened inside of their home, located along the 5800 block of Thomas Street.
The daughter said she had left the residence to go to the store with her sister, at around 10 p.m. When she returned, she found her mother unresponsive on their bed and tried to wake her up.
“When I get back, that’s when I say my mom laying on the bed with a bunch of blood on her,” said the teen.
Joseph’s daughter said she walked outside the home and encountered her father. “He said, ‘I just finished with your mom. I finished with her,'” she said.
The teen said she has been deeply affected by the tragedy. “I’m trying to hold it together, but the fact that I saw her, and every time I close my eyes, all I keep seeing is her, when she was laying in the bed, how she looked,” she said. “I don’t know how she actually died.”
According to investigators, Sejour used a pipe wrench to beat his wife. They said her head and face had significant trauma.
“We heard the screaming and everything. We called 911,” said a neighbor.
Police said a revelation that Joseph was pregnant with another man’s baby was what set him off. His arrest report states, “He spontaneously began to utter that his wife had called her boyfriend, placing the call on speaker. The boyfriend stated that the victim was pregnant with this child. Sejour stated, ‘I did it. I finished her and called the police and went outside. I’m not crazy.’ He repeated those same statements numerous times.”
But Joseph’s daughter said that there was no boyfriend and no baby on the way. “My mom was never pregnant, and she would never, never make my dad talk to somebody she’s talking to. That’s something she would never do,” she said.
The teen said her mother nevertheless wanted to leave her 22-year-relationship with Sejour.
Sejour has been charged with one count of premeditated murder. Friday morning, he appeared before a judge and was denied bond.
“That’s not my dad anymore,” said his daughter. “I don’t have a dad.”
A family court judge ruled Sejour’s six children will all need counseling and will temporarily live with their aunt. The youngest child is only 4 years old.
Sejour is being held at the Broward County Jail.
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