Cops seek motive for Bel Air executions

- gunman lay in wait outside victims' home

Police were yesterday still trying to establish the motive for Sunday night's execution-style killing of Continental Cycling Club president Maximillan William Perreira and his wife, Marli s Archer, at their Duncan Street, Bel Air home.

Perreira, 63, succumbed from his injuries at around 04:30hrs yesterday in the Georgetown Public Hospital 's Intensive Care Unit.

Unsolved murders

His 43-year-old wife died at around 22:40hrs on Sunday.

They were shot outside their Lot 105 Duncan Street, Bel Air Park home by a lone gunman shortly after returning to the residence in a van.

A relative said that both victims were shot three times at close range.

Perreira, an architect, was reportedly dragged out of his van and shot in the temple, neck and abdomen.

Archer, who worked as his secretary, was shot in the face, abdomen and back, as she was about to open the gate for her husband to drive in.

Their killer escaped with an accomplice on a motorcycle.

Police recovered nine .32 shells from the driveway and the yard.

Nothing appeared to have been stolen from the victims, although police are in possession of an ATM slip, which indicated that Perreira had made a withdrawal on Sunday.

Eyewitnesses said that Marlis Archer had exited the couple's van to open the gate for her husband to drive in when a man with a handgun, who had concealed himself behind a nearby vehicle, walked across to them.

The gunman cornered Archer near the gate and shot her at point blank range.

He reportedly then dragged her husband out of the van and shot him.

The gunman then ran east along Duncan Street where he joined and fled with an accomplice on a motorcycle.

Prior to the shooting, eyewitnesses recalled seeing two men “walking up and down” Duncan Street in the vicinity of the couple's home.

Stella Archer, the slain woman's mother, said the couple had gone in their vehicle to a friend's home in Garnett Street on Sunday night.

They left at around 22:00hrs, and apparently went somewhere else before heading for home.

Mrs. Archer said she was sitting inside with other family members when she heard six gunshots in rapid succession.

She said her son, Lindsay Archer, immediately told them to lie on the floor.

At first, none of the family members realised that Perreira and his wife were outside.

“But then my son Lindsay said ‘Mommy, I just hear Max's keys (jingling).'

“He opened the front door a little and saw the van outside and he thought that they (Max and Marlis) were sitting quietly inside.

“But then he opened the door further and he shouted: ‘Look Max on the ground outside!'”

She recalled that Maximillan lay sprawled on his back on the driveway while Marlis was slumped near the gate in a pool of blood.

Relatives phoned for the police who arrived within minutes and, along with a neighbour, took the mortally wounded couple to the Georgetown Public Hospital .

Marlis died shortly after, while Maximillan succumbed several hours later.

None of the relatives could come up with a motive for the killing, since the couple had no enemies that they were aware of.

Besides being president of the Continental Cycling Club, Maximillan Perreira was also a former president of the Guyana Cycling Federation.

 Tuesday 10-03-2006