One of Bermuda's most notorious criminals died on Monday in hospital following an apparent heart attack.

The Royal Gazette understands the death may have been drug related and an autopsy will be performed on the body of Rupert Elroy Archibald.

Mr. Archibald, 41, was serving a 30-year prison sentence for a 1997 armed robbery at the Somerset branch of the Bank of Bermuda.

According to a statement released by Permanent Secretary for Labour and Home Affairs Robert Horton yesterday, Mr. Archibald was taken to the medical office at Westgate Correctional Facility at 2.35 p.m. after complaining of chest pains.

Prison authorities called 911, while doctors assessed and treated him.

But Mr. Archibald suffered a cardiac arrest before the ambulance reached the prison. Prison doctors and nurses administered life-saving measures, the statement said, and Mr. Archibald received further treatment from the Emergency Medical Team once in the ambulance.

He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, roughly an hour and a half later after the initial report. Prison Commissioner John Prescod and Assistant Commissioner Randall Woolridge said they “had spoken with Mr. Archibald's mother and expressed sympathy to her and other members of the family on behalf of the Prison Service”.

Acting Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Dennis Lister also offered his sympathy to the Archibald family.

Asked whether there would be an investigation into the death, Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said Police were awaiting further instructions following the completion of the autopsy.

While sources told The Royal Gazette there is suspicion the 41-year-old man's death was drug related, last night Mr. Horton said he had no knowledge of any possible involvement of illicit drugs.

Mr. Horton said autopsies are always performed in the cases of sudden deaths. “That happens whether a person is incarcerated or not,” he said.

Mr. Archibald was serving 30 years for stealing $37,500 from Bank of Bermuda along with a gang of other men in April 1997.

He received a ten-year sentence for the robbery and 20 years for using a firearm - Mr. Archibald reportedly fired a shot from a .357 Magnum into the air to subdue the crowd inside the bank.

The robbery occurred less than one year after he was released from prison after serving two-thirds of a 15-year sentence in relation to the 1986 armed robbery of Hayward's supermarket and murder of Roger Redman.

Mr. Archibald was originally sentenced to life plus 24 years on charges of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and using firearms in relation to that incident.

On appeal, however, the murder and attempted murder convictions were quashed and Archibald's sentence was reduced to 15 years in total of which he had served ten.