By Danny Sinopoli The traumatised co-workers of slain Chamber of Commerce employee Rochelle Marcia West began receiving counselling yesterday as the stabbing victim's estranged husband spent his second day in Police custody without being charged with the crime.

Mrs. West, a 30-year-old receptionist at the Chamber's Hamilton office, was stabbed repeatedly on Thursday after a man who has been identified by Police as her husband walked into the Albuoy's Point building and began arguing with her.

The husband, who was not living with the victim at the time, has been identified to The Royal Gazette as 26-year-old Rudolph West of St. George's.

The Royal Gazette also understands that the couple was in the process of divorcing.

Yesterday, seven Chamber of Commerce staffers who either witnessed or were "in the vicinity'' of the bloody midday attack started receiving trauma counselling under the direction of the Employee Assistance Programme of Bermuda, Chamber president Mr. Robert Rego said.

He added that EAP counsellors were on hand when Mrs. West's co-workers were interviewed by Police on Thursday.

"There was an immediate response in this case,'' the EAP's executive director, Mrs. Deborah Carr, confirmed yesterday.

She said that the employees would be undergoing "post-trauma debriefing'' on an ongoing basis.

In the meantime, Police continued to hold Mr. West in connection with the stabbing without laying formal charges.

"The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Rochelle West is continuing under the supervision of Detective Inspector Sinclair White,'' a Police statement said yesterday.

"The person arrested in connection with this murder will not be appearing in court (on Friday), but in due course.'' Police can detain a suspect without charges for up to 72 working hours and can extend the detention even longer if they feel it is necessary.

In this case, they are asking anyone who may have information that can assist in the investigation to contact Det. Insp. White at 295-0011.

In related developments, it was revealed to The Royal Gazette yesterday that Mr. West had appeared with his wife's legal representative at a private hearing before Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward on the morning of his wife's murder.

"She (Mrs. West) was not there,'' a Supreme Court source confirmed. "She was represented by a lawyer.'' Counselling for co-workers of slain woman Mrs. West's lawyer, Ms Karen Williams-Smith of Mello, Hollis, Jones and Martin, declined to comment on the nature of her late client's case.

At the same time, Mr. Rego of the Chamber of Commerce revealed that the Chamber was seriously considering a move to a new set of offices as a result of the stabbing.

"We're looking at the distinct possibility of relocating sometime soon,'' he said. "We want to be able to get our staff into a more productive environment.'' Mr. Rego added that a tentative search for office space had already begun.

Finally, the calls for a greater sensitivity to the needs of abused women grew in intensity yesterday as Ms Toni Daniels of the Women's Resource Centre gave her comments on a crime that has been characterised by Police as having been of a "domestic'' nature.

"I hope it (the stabbing) is a wake-up call,'' Ms Daniels said. "It really is a serious problem that Bermudians will have to look at and take some action on.'' She added: "It's not the first time in Bermuda that a women on one end of a domestic dispute has ended up dead.'' On the day of Mrs. West's murder, Ms Arlene Swan of the Physical Abuse Centre revealed that the victim had been seeking assistance at the facility since last summer.

She further classified Mrs. West as one of her "active'' cases.

On Thursday, Mrs. Grace Bell MP reported to The Royal Gazette that the late Mrs. Rochelle West had a young son named Justin.

In fact, Justin was Mrs. West's nephew.

Rochelle Marcia West