PARTNERS in life, love, business and employment Hollis and Shereen Bailey-Valdez were found murdered, face down, on the floor of their bedroom Friday morning.

Police were, up to late Friday evening, searching the forest of Rincon Village for the suspect.

According to police reports, at about 7.45 am, an anonymous caller contacted the Maracas Bay Police Station and reported hearing gunshots at Rincon Road, Las Cuevas. Officers responded to the call and found the couple dead.

At the scene of the double killing, relatives of the couple said, apart from working together, they ran a bar at Las Cuevas. Valdez’s father Victor Valdez told the media that it was only a few days ago his son returned to his matrimonial home after just over a month separated.

“I and him were real close. They were married for about seven years now but together longer than that. When he left her he came by me, that was about over 6 weeks ago then some days ago he went back home.

Victor said after the funeral for 22-year-old Meshach Gibson who was killed in a shoot-out with police on July 19 at La Fillette, Blanchisseuse, the couple went home together and that was the last anyone saw them alive.

He said when he woke up on Friday he checked his son’s bedroom and did not see him and sometime after 8 am, a neighbour called to tell him what happened. He was thankful that the couple’s only child, a 14-year-old girl, was not at home when the killer came.

[caption id="attachment_967376" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tempers flare in Rincon Village at the scene of the murder of Hollis Valdez and his wife Shereen Bailey-Valdez as residents argue over what some felt was the slow mobilisation of the police to search for the murder suspect. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]

The couple had a rocky relationship as relatives claim Bailey-Valdez was in an on-and-off relationship with the suspect for some 13 years.

Friends of Bailey-Valdez said she was afraid to go to the police, but she was receiving death threats from the suspect who gave her four days to live earlier this week. Two weeks ago the suspect told his sister that he was going to kill Bailey-Valdez and himself.

After the killing, villagers say the man told one of Bailey-Valdez's cousins to tell everyone that he had killed her. Before the killing, he reportedly told another villager that he was going to do it.

A relative of Bailey-Valdez said she was aware of the threats and on numerous occasions asked her to seek help but Bailey-Valdez decided not to.

“I tried to reach out once or twice, but she was a very private person,” the woman said.

Villagers: Not enough done to find suspect

Relatives and residents expressed their anger at what they considered police inaction in giving the suspect ample time to escape after they failed to mount a search party for him. One man, who identified himself only as “Bafa,” said the supposed lack of concern was dangerous as the suspect could return to the village and kill more people.

“We want the Police Commissioner to know this is a real bad dea