A cycling coach and his wife were on Sunday night gunned down in front of their Duncan Street, Bel Air home, adding to the list of bloody assaults over the past two weeks.

Unsolved murders

Maximilian Perreira, 63, chairman of Continental Cycling Club and his reputed wife Marlis Archer, 43, both of Lot 105 Duncan Street, Bel Air, Georgetown were killed by a lone gunman who waylaid them at their gate.

Police yesterday recovered nine spent shells from the scene, but are yet to arrest the killer who reportedly rode away in the company of an accomplice on a motorcycle.

The double homicide has left relatives baffled and cyclists under Perreira's guidance are uncertain what would be their next move.

Police in a statement said that investigations have so far revealed that Perreira and Archer were in their motor vehicle parked in the driveway. As they were about to disembark, the suspect approached on foot and discharged several rounds in their direction after which he joined a motorcycle ridden by an accomplice and escaped. The wounded couple was taken to the Georgetown Hospital where Archer was pronounced dead on arrival. Perreira, who was in a critical condition, received urgent medical attention, but died around 4 am yesterday.

There have been several theories floated as to why the couple was killed and a police source told Stabroek News yesterday that they have already started to check certain leads. There has been a spate of brutal murders, in most of which guns were used, over the past two weeks.

Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday a resident of the area said that around 9.30 pm on Sunday he and some other men observed two men patrolling the street. The man said they did not notice a motorcycle, but from all appearances the two men were on a mission.

The resident said he was not surprised when he heard the gunshots later. "I just had this gut feeling that those men were up to something... but they were just walking up and down so you couldn't tell what really they were up to," the resident told Stabroek News.

A witness recalled seeing the couple's white minivan turning onto their bridge and stopping. Once Perreira and Archer disembarked the gunman rushed up to them and fired several shots into their bodies. The man then ran off the bridge, turned east into Duncan Street, climbed on to a motorcycle and escaped.

Stella Archer, Marlis's mother said she, two of her grandchildren and her son were in the house around 10.30 pm when they heard gunshots ring out. Stella Archer said her son advised everyone in the house at the time to lie on the ground and they obeyed. She said her son then went into his room and collected a bunch of keys to open the front door.

According to the woman, when her son opened the door he found the bodies of Marlis and Perreira sprawled on the concrete bridge next to their minivan. The man raised an alarm and everyone rushed out of the house, Stella Archer said. She told Stabroek News that the police were then summoned to the scene and they arrived in time to escort the couple to the hospital. Stella Archer said Marlis was picked up in an unconscious state, but she died before reaching the hospital. Perreira died around 4.30 yesterday morning.

Stella Archer could not give a possible motive for the couple's brutal murder, noting that as far as she knew they had no trouble with anyone. She said last night the couple went out to lime at a place on Garnett Street. She said they usually went there or to the seawalls.

Stella Archer said the owner of the place on Garnett Street informed them that the couple had left there some time after 10 pm on Sunday.

She said it was clear that the gunmen were waiting on the couple, but she could not say whether anything was stolen from them.

Meanwhile, Stabroek News was told that Perreira might have had a falling out with someone and this could have led to Sunday night's carnage. One source told this newspaper, the fact that the killer/s did not use high-powered weapons might be an indication that he/they were not members of any of the armed gangs around. The source said it might have been a personal issue.

But Stella Archer said she could not think of any problem the couple had with anyone. She recalled that some time last month the couple had gone shopping and while they were in the market a man had attempted to rob Perreira. She said the bandit had accosted Perreira, but he was "roughed up" before fleeing.

When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday morning, the couple's white minivan was still parked on the bridge. Relatives had covered the thick clots of blood with ply-board, while investigators dusted the vehicle for fingerprints.

Warren Mc Kay, one of the several cyclists enlisted in Perreira's club said this cold-blooded murder was a big blow to the cycling fraternity and the club. Mc Kay said Perreira had nurtured many of them from obscurity to national prominence in their discipline, using his own money and resources. "We can't find another man like him and right now I don't even know what will happen next," Mc Kay told Stabroek News when asked for a comment.

The couple had been living together for a number of years on the upper flat of the house. Perreira, an architect, was said to have designed all of the Royal Castle signs.

Relatives said Archer worked as Perreira's secretary in his architecture firm and as the treasurer of the cycling club. The couple was described as pleasant.