On the coolest morning in recent days, the quiet routine of Mandeville was shaken by a bizarre stabbing incident that left two persons dead.

Dead are Everton Richards of Knockpatrick and Judith Curry, 26-year-old resident of Comfort district, near Royal Flat, in the parish. The bodies were found slumped over each other.

The incident, which forced the Mandeville police to block the town's main thoroughfare, occurred shortly after 9 a.m. in a bar on Bally Holly Drive.

Reports from a woman who performs janitorial duties on the same complex and claimed to be an eyewitness, as well as police personnel who were early on the scene, suggest the deaths may be classified as a murder-suicide.

Richards, who worked at Urvills Supermarket about 100 metres away from where the incident occurred, had gone to have breakfast when he got into an altercation with Curry, a bartender. It is believed that Richards, who was mute, stabbed Curry before inflicting a fatal wound to his own heart.

However, another theory that was being examined was that a third person might have stabbed Richards after Curry was killed.

Despite speculation, police did not immediately establish a motive for the deaths.