A man early this morning shot his wife dead before turning the weapon on himself.
Confirmed dead are Victor Pires, a chainsaw operator and Pamela Martin both of Citrus Grove, Port Kaituma.
The murder/suicide occurred just after 4 am.
A resident who is close to the couple told Stabroek News that the woman was in the habit of staying away from home for days at a time. She was shot shortly after returning home this morning.
This newspaper was told that residents first heard the woman and her four young children screaming before gunshots rang out. By the time police responded to calls from residents both of them were already dead.
The children were unharmed.
The police issued the following press release this morning:
“The police are investigating a murder/suicide that occurred at about 0420h. today Monday April 21, 2014, at Port Kaituma, NWD.
“Investigations so far have revealed that Victor Pires, 62 years, and his reputed wife Pamela Martin, 39 years, had an argument during which he shot her to the head and then shot himself to his head. The bodies are at the Port Kaituma Hospital mortuary.
“An improvised shotgun and three empty cartridges were found at the scene by the police.”
The murder/suicide comes three weeks after Linus La Cruz, 50, locked the grille barricades on his Main Road Port Kaituma home and set it ablaze, with his wife and four children inside.
The charred bodies of housewife Lurlene La Cruz, 39, and her children Lea La Cruz, 14, Labron La Cruz, 8, Lavette La Cruz, 3, and Levon La Cruz, 1, were later removed by police from the smoldering debris. La Cruz, who sustained burns to his body, subsequently died at the Georgetown Hospital.
