Shooting Victim Remembered as Likable Sailor : Crime: Police, who have arrested the husband of a sailing companion, have no further clues on a murder motive.

Two days after an Irvine man was shot to death on the waterfront here, acquaintances Sunday called the victim a likable sailor and handyman who had been seen frequently with the wife of the man suspected of shooting him.

Police provided no further clues Sunday on a motive in the slaying of Randy Lee Devore, 41. But several fellow boaters said that the victim and Marny Sherwood, the wife of the man accused of murdering him, knew each and other and sailed together frequently.

“I would guess they were a couple,” said Paul Hutton, a Dana Point Harbor boat owner who was aboard his boat when he heard the shooting across the dock. “I saw them a lot together.”

Hutton said he was surprised to see the suspect, Robert McCloud Sherwood, 41, about 10:15 that evening walking on the dock toward his wife Marny’s boat, a 27-foot Catalina sailboat.

Marny Sherwood is the secretary to the city manager of San Juan Capistrano; Robert Sherwood is a self-described business executive who neighbors say spent most days at home.

“It was strange,” Hutton said. “He hadn’t been there for a couple of months. I thought maybe he and Marny had arranged to meet to work things out.”

About 20 minutes later, he said, he heard the familiar clicking of Marny Sherwood’s high heels. A few minutes after that, he said he heard multiple gunshots.

Meanwhile, John Dahlberg, 20, an emergency medical technician who was aboard a nearby boat, also heard the shots and ran to help. In the dark, he stumbled upon the body of Devore, who he said had no pulse.

Sheriff’s deputies said Devore, 41, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. Robert Sherwood was detained at the scene and later arrested on suspicion of murder.

Dahlberg, whose father owns Dana Point Marina Co., described the man and woman he saw there as “well to do.”

As he approached the area of the shooting, Dahlberg said he paused for about 30 seconds to ascertain whether either of them was armed. “I deemed it was OK,” Dahlberg said. “I knew the risk.”

Dahlberg saw Marny Sherwood call 911 minutes later, said Dahlberg’s family attorney, Hiram deFriess of Laguna Hills. Dahlberg said there was an “exchange of words” between Marny Sherwood and someone at the scene, which he assumed had been recorded on the 911 tapes, he said.

He would not specify who participated in the exchange. Sheriff’s deputies said the tapes are under investigation.

Dahlberg said he has been cautioned by his lawyer not to discuss details of what he witnessed. However, he said of the shooting: “I would say it wasn’t an accident.”

Sherwood, who is being held in Orange County Jail, is expected to be arraigned today.

Neighbors said the Sherwoods have lived in a home previously owned by Marny Sherwood’s parents in an affluent neighborhood in the hills of Dana Point for about five years. They said the couple kept to themselves and were not well known on the street.

Next-door neighbor Linda Hill, who has lived in the area for three years, said Robert Sherwood has never spoken to her, except to wave or say hello. She said he appeared to spend his days at home. “He was either here or playing golf,” she said.

She said she saw him last week jogging through the neighborhood as usual. Hill said she was “totally shocked” that he had been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Harbor acquaintances also called Robert Sherwood quiet and said Marny was the more cordial and friendly of the two.

Both she and her son, Robert Jr., are strong sailors who were more interested in racing than Robert Sr., they said.

A member of the Dana Point Yacht Club said Marny Sherwood has held a single membership at the club for some time.

Devore, who deputies said lived in Irvine, also was a sailing enthusiast and was known throughout the harbor community as a “nice, quiet fellow” who had remodeled homes, installed tile and maintained boats for the past 10 years.

“His specialty was rigging race boats,” said a sales representative from Dana Harbor Yacht Charters, who did not want to be identified. “He had built his own race boat and sailed it to San Francisco and Catalina. . . . He was not Mr. Know It All, not a macho type person. He was very likable.”

Devore often raced with yacht club members, with Marny Sherwood in particular, sources said.

In recent weeks, he was seen frequently on Marny Sherwood’s boat, Mariah, with her and another woman. “They were like a crew,” Hutton said.

Correspondent Len Hall contributed to this story.