The Jolly Joseph Case: True Story Behind Koodathayi's Horrific Cyanide Killings

Jolly Joseph was the prime suspect in the murders of six of her family members.

Here's all you need to know about the Jolly Joseph case.

(Photo Courtesy: Netflix/Altered by The Quint)

Netflix's latest crime docuseries, Curry and Cyanide - The Jolly Joseph Case, is currently making waves on OTT.

Directed by Christo Tomy and produced by India Today Originals, the series revisits the horrific cyanide killings in Kerela's Koodathayi, wherein a professor reportedly poisoned six of her family members, including a two-year-old daughter. The case shook the whole nation, because the victims were no strangers but her own kin and kith.

Who is Jolly Joseph? And what is the Koodathayi cyanide case all about? Here's all you need to know:

Who Is Jolly Joseph?

Jollyamma Joseph, known as Jolly among her friends and relatives, is the prime suspect in the brutal murders of six members of the family she married into.

• Jolly originally hails from Kattappana in Kerela's Idukki district and is reportedly a first-year college dropout.

• Following her first marriage to Roy Thomas in 1997, Jolly moved to Koodathayi.

• The couple had two sons together, now aged 19 and 24.

Jolly Joseph is the prime suspect of the cyanide killings in Koodathayi.

(Photo Courtesy: Netflix/Screengrab)

• According to several media reports, Jolly deceived her fellow neighbours about her educational qualifications and professional life.

• She claimed to be an M.Com. graduate who was working as a professor at the prestigious National Institute of Technology Calicut (NIT-C) in Kozhikode.

• However, the true whereabouts of her daily outings to fake her "job" remained uncertain.

In 2011, her husband, Roy, died under mysterious circumstances. Following his death, Jolly had a second marriage to Shaju Zachariah, Roy's cousin in 2016.

A group photograph of the Thomas family.

(Photo Courtesy: Netflix/Screengrab)

According to a report by India Today, Jolly stands accused of employing cyanide to kill her family members with the alleged intention of gaining control over their properties.

The victims of the cyanide murders included her first husband Roy, father-in-law Tom Thomas, mother-in-law Annamma Thomas, Annamma's brother Mathew Manchadiyil, her second husband Shaju's first wife Cili, and their daughter Alphine.

The Killing Spree in Koodathayi

The killings began in 2002 with the death of Jolly's mother-in-law, Annamma. As per reports, she was believed to have died of a cardiac arrest considering her age until the truth was exposed a decade after Jolly's arrest in 2019. As per Gulf News:

• Jolly confessed to killing Annamma by lacing her mutton soup with poison in order to have control over the family's finances.

• Jolly decided to eliminate her dominating mother-in-law after she allegedly found out about her lies about being a school teacher in town.

• Although Jolly took over the family matters following Annamma's death, her dreams of being the sole owner of the family weren't fulfilled as Roy was not the only heir.

Roy's brother Rojo and sister Ranji.

(Photo Courtesy: X)

Roy's brother Rojo Thomas and his sister Ranji Thomas, who later unveiled the truth behind the killings, also had equal rights to the family's wealth and property. According to reports:

• Next, Jolly targeted her father-in-law, Tom, who was found dead in 2008.

• Jolly was the first o find the dead body and call for help, convincing everyone that it was a cardiac arrest, leaving no room for foul play.

• Years later, an investigation revealed that Tom's death was a meticulously planned murder, as Jolly mixed cyanide in his mushroom capsule medication.

• After killing Tom, Jolly forged a will that stated that she would be the freeholder of the house the family lived in.

Following Tom's death, Roy was living off of his father's savings as he did not have a steady job. The investigation revealed that in the meantime, Jolly was reportedly having an affair with her husband's friend, MS Mathew alias Shaji, who was a jewellery shop owner.

During the investigation, Mathew claimed that Jolly would often ask him to arrange cyanide to kill the rats in her house.

According to the Death, Lies and Cyanide podcast on Spoitify, Mathew helped Jolly source cyanide from Praji Kumar, a local goldsmith, by bribing him with liquor, Rs 5,000 cash, and a night with her.

A still from the trailer of Curry & Cyanide.

(Photo Courtesy: Netflix/Screengrab)

Following the investigation, both Mathew and Praji were arrested in connection with the killings under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 34 (acts done by several people with common intention) and 365 (abduction). As per a 2019 report by The New Indian Express:

• In 2011, when Roy was found dead in the bathroom, foaming at the mouth, family members raised suspicion on Jolly's story of it being a cardiac arrest.

• Roy's maternal uncle, Manchadiyil, soon demanded a postmortem after traces of cyanide were found in his body.

• However, Jolly then tried to portray the killing as a suicide and convinced the relatives not to further the investigation in the name of family reputation.

Three years after Roy's death, Manchadiyil was also found dead at his house in 2014, after Jolly laced his whiskey with poison.

As per reports, Manchadiyil's death, too, was left unquestioned until the next killing happened in the same year.

Shaju Zacharias and Jolly Joseph after their marriage.

(Photo Courtesy: Netflix/Screengrab)

The fifth victim of Jolly's serial killings was Alphine, the year-old daughter of her second husband, Shaju Zacharias. According to media reports, Jolly choked Alphine to death at her sibling's Holy Communion.

In 2016, Jolly killed Shaju's first wife, Cili, by lacing her drink with cyanide. The incident reportedly took place when they accompanied Shaju for his dental appointment. Since the death occurred in a public place, no one raised suspicion on Jolly, and the year after Shaju tied the knot with her.

Jolly Joseph's Confession

The case came to light in 2019, when Roy filed a police complaint raising concerns about the deaths in his family. Soon, an inquiry was set up by the police, led by Kozhikode rural SP KG Simon IPS, Hindustan Times reported.

After finding discrepancies in the initial findings, the police decided to exhume the bodies of the deceased from the family burial on 4 October, which revealed that all six deaths were, in fact, murders.

Jolly Joseph following her arrest.

(Photo Courtesy: Netflix/Screengrab)

After a long period of 14 years, Jolly was arrested in October 2019 under IPC section 320 (murder) and other relevant sections after she confessed to using cyanide to kill all six members of her family.

• As per a New Indian Express report, scientific examinations unravelled the presence of cyanide in Cili and Roy's bodies.

• It is important to note that among the six victims, only Roy's underwent an autopsy.

• Reports also hint that Jolly used her influence to arrange cremations without a post-mortem examination of the other deceased.

On 27 February 2020, Jolly tried to die by suicide by biting her wrists while she was in custody.

As per reports, the third accused in the case was Manoj Kumar, who allegedly helped Jolly with the forged will in return for her generous contributions to his real estate dealings.

The fourth accomplice was Johnson, a BSNL worker who misused his authority to aid Jolly.

Jolly is currently serving her sentence in jail.

(With inputs from The New Indian Express, India Today, Gulf News, Hindustan Times, and The Hindu)