November 2, 2020
-says was told this by police
The DNA samples which were sent to St. Lucia for analysis in relation to the murders of teenaged cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry do not link any of the suspects to the scene of the murder, Gladston Henry, the father of Isiah last night told this newspaper.
According to the father, he was informed of the findings when he was contacted by the police last week.
“Yes, they contacted me (and) told me about the results from the DNA samples. They said it does not match any of the persons that they had arrested for the murders of my son,” Henry said.
The results were submitted to the police for review last week, almost a month after they were sent for analysis in St. Lucia.
Gladston Henry
The police had previously said that DNA samples collected from the suspects who were arrested for questioning in relation to the murders were sent for a comparative analysis to be conducted against the forensic evidence collected from the secondary crime scene.
While expressing his disappointment last night, Henry said that he will continue to call for justice for the boys.
“I am disappointed at the results because nobody cannot come from space and commit this crime. All those persons [who were arrested] were living and working in the area when my boys were killed,” the grieving father lamented.
Since the arrival of the results last Wednesday, there has been no briefing by the police on the findings and efforts again yesterday to contact Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum proved futile.
Asked by Stabroek News whether the findings will be made public, GPF spokesman Assistant Commissioner Royston Andries-Junor said that this will be done in “due course”.
The opposition APNU+AFC on Friday pressed for an independent, international investigation into the killings of the West Coast Berbice (WCB) cousins and Haresh Singh, while saying that the state is duty-bound to deliver.
“The Henry families deserve justice and no stone must be left unturned and no effort must be spared in ensuring that justice is delivered,” the party said in a statement, while adding that the families of the teens have reported that the investigative team is refusing to answer their telephone calls.
The teenaged cousins and Singh were killed almost two months ago and the Guyana Police Force has been under pressure to find their killers.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secondary School, and Joel, 18, who worked at the Blairmont Estate, went missing on Saturday, September 5, after they left home for the Cotton Tree backlands to pick coconuts.
Seventeen-year-old Singh of Number Three Village was found dead in the Number Two Village backdam days after the murder of the Henry cousins. He had gone on an errand to transport water. His motorcycle was also torched.
Last night his grandmother, Basmattie related that they have not received any updates from the police on the status of the investigation.
Singh, is a relative of three of the suspects in the murders of the Henry cousins and his killing has been seen as an act of reprisal.
With mounting pressure and unrest in the communities near to where the boys were killed, President Irfaan Ali had announced that forensic evidence obtained by the police in the murders had been sent to St. Lucia for testing.
Ali also took a decision to request assistance from the Caribbean Community’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) and the Regional Security System (RSS) after dozens of ranks combed the backlands of No. 2 and No. 3 villages, WCB and found nothing of “evidential” value for the investigation into the murders.
Last week, Ali told the media that the RSS team recommended that additional work be done.
