Man Pleads Guilty to Gruesome Murder on Scallop Fishing Vessel Off Massachusetts

A Virginia man has plead guilty to murdering a fellow crew member on board aboard a commercial scalloping vessel off the coast of Massachusetts.

The vicious attack took place in September 2018 on boad the fishing vessel The Captain Billy Haver as it was located approximately 55 miles off the coast of Nantucket. On board were seven crew membes, including the assailant Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, a 31-year-old Mexican national who was in the U.S. illegally.

Meave Vazquez has now pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to one count of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon

One person was killed and another two were badly injured in the attack, the details of which have been shared by Department of Justice.

Inside the shucking house, Meave Vazquez used a hammer to strike the unidentified “Victim A” hard in the head, leaving the person unconscious. Meave Vazquez then walked out onto the deck and stabbed a second victim, “Victim B”, multiple times with a long fillet knife.

In response to the commotion, a third victim, “Victim C,” climbed up from the ice hold, was struck in the head by Meave Vazquez with the hammer and fell back down the ladder, bleeding from his head. Meave Vazquez then struggled with the vessel captain before climbing to the top of the rigging mast.

Victim A and Victim B were taken by rescue boat to a nearby ship for medical attention where Victim B was pronounced dead.

Meave Vazquez remained at the top of the mast until the Coast Guard arrived that evening and immediately took him into custody and later transferred into federal custody at the Port of Boston.

Maeve Vazquez, who is in the United States illegally, faces a sentence of up to life in prison on the second-degree murder charge.

The Mayday call from the Captain Billy Haver was released shortly after the incident. “We have a man gone crazy on the boat here,” the call said (skip to 2:55 below).

Updated: December 22, 2023 (Originally published March 15, 2022)

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