FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Hollywood man who is accused of beating his wife to death with a metal pipe appeared Friday in court, where he was denied bond.
Claude Sejour, 48, was arrested Wednesday night on a premeditated murder charge.
Police said he beat his wife, Marie Carmel Joseph, with a pipe wrench while the couple's four children were inside their home.
According to an arrest report, Sejour became enraged after he learned that his wife was pregnant with another man's child.
They got into an argument and Sejour told police that Joseph grabbed a knife and lunged at him, the report said.
He said he then took the pipe wrench and struck her with it.
When officers arrived, Sejour told them, "I did it. I finished her and called the police," the report said.
The couple's 17-year-old daughter tried to revive her mother as she laid lifeless in a bedroom. Police said Joseph had severe trauma to her face and head.
Neighbors were stunned by the news, saying they'd never even heard the couple argue.
"I'm shocked that he would do something like that to his wife," one neighbor, Henry Oquendo, said.
The couple's children were handed over to relatives.
A shelter hearing was held Friday afternoon, where Sejour faced his two adult children.
The judge ultimately decided to grant custody of the couple's four younger children to the children's aunt.
Sejour has been banned from having any contact with the children, who will attend counseling to help them deal with the tragedy of losing their mother.