By KEVA LIGHTBOURNE,Guardian Staff Reporter

A 22-year-old Bimini resident will be arraigned in the Magistrate's Court today for the double slaying of two Austrian visitors to that island over the weekend.

The man, whose name is being withheld by the police was arrested by a team of detectives from New Providence, Grand Bahama and Bimini around 12.20 p.m. on Monday.

Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Crime, Reginald Ferguson, confirmed Thursday that the suspect was found in possession of a 12 gauge Maverick shotgun believed to be the murder weapon, as well as properties belonging to Bernhard Bolzano, 34, and Barbara Frell von Perfall, 32.

Robbery is believed to be the motive for the killings. At the time of the incident the suspect was said to be on bail for a sexual offence.

The deceased were guests at the Bimini Blue Water Resort. The body of Bernhard was reportedly found lying on the floor between the two beds of the hotel room with his hands tied behind his back and a gunshot wound to the upper back.

Perfall, was found lying on one of the beds with multiple wounds to the head and face. She was also reported to have a gunshot wound to the stomach.

It is believed that they were engaged. It was feared that their deaths would have a negative effect on The Bahamas and the Caribbean as a whole following the disappearance of a 17-year-old American girl while on a post-graduation trip in Aruba.

Asked whether he thought the quick action in arresting a suspect would help to displace the negativity that the international community might have against this crime, Mr Ferguson said: "What I believe is that after you have a serious crime like this in your community or anywhere, the next best thing you can do is to try to solve it, and I think the quicker the better."

He described the matter as a "serious and difficult case."

"That is the nature of these kind of complaints, especially when you have a situation where culprits are smart enough to try to clean up after themselves," Mr Ferguson said.

Mr Ferguson said it made the investigation that much more difficult and one would have to rely heavily on forensics and scenes of crime technicians to help to find clues and angles for exploitation in the investigation.

"Our team of investigators did a remarkable job in trying to get this case to this point," he noted. "Their dedication and consistency in their approach to their job allowed them the opportunity to do the kind of deduction that was necessary to arrive at the point when they decided to take this person into custody."

However, he declined to give any further details on that issue or state whether the suspect's fingerprints were found at the scene, or what led the police to him.

Mr Ferguson went on to commend Biminites for their assistance in the matter. He said they were "very cooperative" despite the incident sending "shock waves" throughout the community.