Hughes recommends Argentine forensic team

NIGEL HUGHES, one of the lawyers on the legal team for slain West Coast Berbice teens, Isaiah and Joel Henry, is recommending Government’s support and approval for the Argentine forensic team to be part of the investigating team.

This recommendation was made on Tuesday, hours after the Guyana Police Force offered a $3M reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the gruesome murders.
During a virtual press conference with the Henry family, Hughes said the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (Equipo Argentino de Antropologia Forensica-EAAF) would add confidence and expertise to the investigations.
He noted that there have been no responses from the Minister of Home Affairs after several letters were written to him, bringing various issues to his attention.

“This is not your regular common guard murder; it is an open gaping wound that is getting septic and if it is not solved, there is likely to be more problems,” the lawyer said.
The attorney noted that the local police investigators, and by extension, the Regional Security System (RSS) team failed in their attempts to solve the murders.

Adding that the $3M reward offer by the police is an admission of failure, Hughes said the argentine team is asking for $4M in professional fees, along with travel, food and boarding to visit and offer their specialised services.
The team will include a forensic anthropologist from Argentina, and from Spain two forensic pathologists and a criminalist.

Currently, Hughes said there are many doubts in relation to the investigation done by the Police, since they are yet to locate the primary crime scene.
Further, he said that the trousers that Joel was wearing was never sent for forensic examination; the missing slipper for Isaiah was never found and rice not ready for harvesting was harvested before police combed the area in a nearby field where the bodies were found.

EXPLORING LEADS

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) stated: “The investigations into the murders of Joel Henry, Isaiah Henry and Haresh Singh are ongoing. Police investigators are diligently exploring every possible lead to bring the perpetrator(s) to justice and the GPF is therefore appealing to the general public to continue to assist in this effort. As such, the GPF hereby announces that a reward in the sum of G$3M is being offered to any person or persons who can provide information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of these gruesome murders.”

The team from the CARICOM Regional Security System (RSS), which recently visited Guyana, has expressed satisfaction with the work being done by the GPF in relation to the brutal murders.
The team visited Guyana on September 28 and spent one week assisting local detectives with the case. Their final report has since been submitted to the GPF.
The mutilated bodies of the teen cousins were found on September 6, 2020 in the Cotton Tree backdam in West Berbice.

VIOLENT PROTESTS
Their gruesome murders sparked violent protests across the country for almost a week.
Three days after the Henry boys were found, on September 9, Singh was found, in a bloodied state as well, in the Number Three Village backdam, hours after he left home on his motorcycle to transport water for his relatives who were working on their farm.

He was found unconscious by his 12-year-old brother, while his motorcycle was found torched. He died while on the way to the New Amsterdam Hospital.

Singh’s murder is viewed as a reprisal killing for the Henry boys, after news spread that two of his relatives were arrested in connection with their murders.

Police had arrested over seven persons in connection with the murder of the Henry boys, but they were all released, as there was no firm case against them.
As a matter of fact, it took the police more than a week to reveal that the cousins were killed elsewhere, and then dumped in Cotton Tree.

A Post Mortem Examination (PME) found that they both died from haemorrhage and shock, due to multiple incised injuries. They both sustained severed spines, along with multiple chops about the body.
The killers carved out a huge ‘X’ on Isaiah’s head, while they cut open Joel’s chest. It is suspected that the boys had died some 36 hours prior to being found.

No one was arrested for the murder of Singh, and a PME found that he died from brain haemorrhage and blunt trauma to the head, compounded by compression injuries to the neck.

Following countrywide protests against the murders, President Irfaan Ali had sought international help, and talks were underway to secure the services of one of the world’s foremost agencies in forensic anthropology to support the investigation of the police.
Persons who have information related to the murders are asked to contact the GPF on the following telephone numbers: 225-6411, 226-6978, 225-8196, 226-1326, 225-2227, 225-3650, 225-7625, 227-1149, 232-0291, 232-0213, 330-2222, 911, or the nearest police station. In this regard, the GPF assures the general public that all information received will be treated with the strictest of confidence in these ongoing investigations