THREE of them were under 20, and the other just 21.

It was not clear last night why they were shot dead, but about 9:00 pm Monday the four youngsters - two of them brothers - all lay dead after a brutal attack by heavily armed men in the sleepy district of Industry Village in rural St Andrew.

Five more murders were also reported between Monday night and yesterday afternoon - pushing the country's murder toll to 151 in only 36 days of the year.

Among that five was a woman who was allegedly stabbed to death by her common-law husband in Dunbeholden, a poor community near Greater Portmore in St Catherine.

In the other incidents, a man was fatally shot at North Parade in downtown Kingston, which also saw the injury of two other men, while a peanut vendor was shot and killed at his home in Primrose Lane, St James. Also, a man was shot dead in Rockfort, a tough community in eastern Kingston, while a man was stabbed to death in Brandon Hill, rural St Andrew.

The dead in the Industry Village attack were identified as Wayne Morris, 17; Orane Williams, 16, and his brother Anthony Williams, 21, all of Industry Village; and Romeo Webber, 19, of Waterford in St Catherine.

According to the police, Morris, Webber and the elder Williams were playing dominoes on the verandah of a house in the community when several armed men crept up to the building and opened fire, killing the three on the spot.

The armed men, the police reported, then turned their weapons on the younger Williams who was just returning from a shop in the area. The injured Orane Williams, the police said, ran off and jumped from a bridge in the community where he fell to his death.

"Is years me up here and me never see anything like this yet. Right now me frighten," a resident of Industry Village told the Observer yesterday morning, as he described how the three men were seen sprawled out in *lo** on the verandah.
Another resident said the shootings could be a 'protest' by armed men in the area against frequent visits from 'unfamiliar' persons.

"The man dem probably get suspicious when them see new man in the area. Probably think them (the deceased) bringing in new man pon dem," the resident claimed.

It was not clear if the man from Waterford who was
killed in the attack was hiding in the area. Waterford, a tough section of the Portmore municipality, has in recent years been plagued
by violence.

Meanwhile, the police reported yesterday that 41-year-old Marleen Douglas, also called 'Mollo', was stabbed and killed at her home in Dunbeholden, St Catherine just before dawn yesterday.

Police have since arrested her common-law husband. His name was not released.

The others murdered between Monday night and yesterday were identified as:

. Larry Edwards, 31- shot dead at his gate in Primrose, St James Monday night.

. Ochoy Lennon of Brae Street, Kingston - shot and killed in downtown Kingston. Two other persons were injured in that incident after gunmen launched an attack near the intersection of Chancery Lane and North Parade Monday night.

. Conroy Findlay, 35 - chopped to death in Brandon Hill, St Andrew yesterday and

. Nathaniel Williams, 33 - shot dead in Rockfort, Kingston on Monday.

In the meantime, the St James police reported that a badly decomposed body was found at Cornwall Court in the parish yesterday. The body was clad in a pair of green pants, a multi-coloured shirt and a pair of blue and white sneakers.