November 12 ,2020
Several persons have been arrested and are currently in custody as the police continue to probe the brutal murders of teenaged cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry as well as Haresh Singh, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has confirmed.
This development came more than a week after the Guyana Police Force (GPF) announced a $3M reward offer for any informaiton leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person/s responsible for the crime.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, Blanhum said that the arrests were made based on information provided as a result of the reward being offered.
“…….I can confirm that after the offer of a reward, the GPF has received some information which has led to the arrest of several persons who are currently assisting the police with their investigation,” Blanhum said.
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.
After they did not return home, relatives lodged missing-persons reports with the police and subsequently launched a search. It was while searching that the bodies of the teens were discovered. The discovery of the bodies sparked days of unrest in West Berbice.
Autopsies performed on the bodies of the teenagers showed that they both died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple wounds.
Days after this, another teenager, Singh, was also murdered in what is believed to be a reprisal killing.
Since the killings, a number of arrests were made but to date no charge has been laid.
Last Tuesday, the police force announced that it will be offering the reward.
However, the family of the Henry cousins, through their attorney Nigel Hughes had indicated that money would be better spent paying for the services of the Argentine Forensic Anthro-pology Team (Equipo Argentino de Antropologia Forensica-EAAF), that has offered to aid in the probe.
The cost to have the team here is likely to be $7M.
The team’s offer to aid local authorities was announced a month ago via a joint statement from the GPF, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and the law firm Hughes, Fields & Stoby.
A joint statement on October 1st said the EAAF, which has worked on high profile cases in many parts of the world, offered to send a team to Guyana, including a forensic pathologist, a forensic anthropologist, a forensic radiologist and a criminologist.
However, on Monday Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn had practically ruled out having the forensic team here.
He had said that the Govern-ment does not intend to go beyond its “normal lines” of engagement in trying to solve the murders.
The GHRA has since launched a fund-raising drive to cover the cost of bringing the team of forensic specialists from Argentina.
More than a month ago, a team from the Caribbean Commu-nity’s Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) and the Regional Security System (RSS) visited to assist local police with the investigations.
President Irfaan Ali had taken a decision to have the team here 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.
Following their departure, a report was prepared. While the findings were not made public, sources had told Stabroek News that the team found that the GPF is “well poised and competent” to complete the investigations.
However, Ali had also told the media that the RSS team has recommended additional work be done.
DNA samples were also collected and testing was done both here and in St Lucia. Upon return from St Lucia, it was revealed that the DNA samples showed no links to the suspects who were arrested for questioning for the murders.
Despite this, Benn had said that authorities are satisfied with the DNA analyses that were conducted and the probe continues.
