MANCHESTER, Jamaica—A woman was killed and her common-law husband injured following an attempted robbery in Blenheim district, Newport, Manchester last night.

The dead woman has been identified as 54-year-old Lorna Lake, a farmer from the district.

Initial reports indicated that Lake might have been sexually assaulted, but this has not been confirmed by the police.

Police told OBSERVER ONLINE that the couple was at home when a man entered their one-bedroom dwelling and demanded money. When told that there was none, the man tied up the couple and took them outside to nearby bushes.

The man was reportedly hit fiercely several times all over his body and fell to the ground and pretended to be dead, the police said. Upon seeing this, the robber took the woman to another area in the bushes.

The man then got up and ran back to the house and called the police who arrived on the scene shortly after 9 p.m. Police and residents conducted a search for Lake, whose motionless body was found in the bushes. She was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.