The man who dismembered and decapitated a mother and son, and is now linked to seven murders, was tracked to his hideout house at Sobo Village, La Brea, last evening.

However, as police moved in, he jumped out a window and took officers on a hunt that continued late into the night.

Police with tracker dogs and helicopters lost the trail but were hoping to keep the suspect confined to the southwestern peninsula.

Homicide officers know who they are looking for. They had the suspect in custody for several days in 2005, in connection with the murders of friends Rudolph Sammy and Peter Samaroo, whose bodies were chopped, burnt and stuffed into barrels behind a house at Mon Repos, San Fernando. The suspect was released due to a lack of evidence.

Last evening an all night patrol was set up along the beach front and Coast Guard vessels stationed offshore, since police believe he was preparing to escape by boat to Venezuela.

Officials at a sailing school based at the Vessigny beach, La Brea, reported one of their boats being tampered with on Tuesday night.

Citizens have been asked to report any sighting of a man last seen wearing a three-quarters pants, pair of black Clarks shoes and limping because of an abscess on a knee. He is about six feet tall, slim to medium build, brown in complexion and with short hair. He has a tattoo of the numbers 666 on one arm, and a tattoo of the word "OUTLAW" on his back, with the tattoo of two knife blades on each side of the word.

The search for the man, who has told people his is the "Devil's advocate" and would "kill for fun", has scared some people living between the villages of Rousillac and Guapo.

The man, who was released from prison several months ago on arms and robbery charges, is said to be in his mid to late 20. He is the main suspect in the murders of Diane Williams, 37, and her son Shaquille Morgan, 10.

Mother and child, both HIV-positive, lived at Tarodale Heights, San Fernando, and asked for help on the streets of the city.

The suspect, who has told associates that he "will not be taken alive", was a friend and housemate of Williams's husband, who died from AIDS last year. Police believe when Williams asked him to leave the home after his release from prison, he prepared to commit the murders. A 22-year-old accomplice is expected to be charged with the murders.

Body parts of mother and son were found discarded at the Forres Park landfill near Claxton Bay last week Wednesday. The heads and one of Williams's arms, which bore the tattoo of her husband's name Bob, was found buried behind the Ste Madeleine home of the suspect's "child mother".

An autopsy yesterday found that Shaquille, who was too sick to attend school, was stabbed several times.

An autopsy on Tuesday found that Williams was shot, chopped, and died from stab wounds. Police said the bodies were dissected with a cutlass and hand saw.

The suspect, who has several children, is also suspected in the chopping death of Winston James at Navet Road, San Fernando, in 2004. Homicide officers linked him yesterday to at least two killings of homeless people living on the streets of San Fernando.

Police learnt on Tuesday that the suspect was seen at a wooden house under construction at Boodoosingh Trace, La Brea, and kept it under surveillance, before contacting special units and moving in yesterday.

Police found an empty plate near a bare mattress in a bedroom. The suspect had a radio. Police do not know if the shoes and clothing found in the house belonged to the suspect. The owner of the house has been detained.

Sgts Anderson Parriman and Peter Ramdeen are working the case.