Several more arrested for Berbice teens’ murder

THE offer of a reward for information into the murders of Joel and Isiah Henry, and Haresh Singh has been bearing fruit, as several persons were arrested on Wednesday, Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum has confirmed.

“I can confirm that after the offer of a reward, the GPF has received some useful information, which has led to the arrest of several persons, who are currently assisting investors with their investigation,” the Crime Chief said.

The GPF is offering a $3M reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the gruesome murders.
A 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.
Their gruesome murders sparked a week of violent protests.

On September 9, three days after the Henry boys were found, 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 found that they both died from haemorrhage and shock, due to multiple incised wounds. 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.