Hours after the murder charge against two vagrants for the murder of Isiah Henry embarrassingly collapsed, the Director of Public Prosecutions said that there is sufficient evidence against the men.
According to a release from the DPP’s chambers Magistrate, Peter Hugh was written to requesting the documents taken at the Preliminary Inquiry into the case of the Police vs Vinod Gopaul and Anil Sancharia.
The DPP stated in the release that there was sufficient evidence against Gopaul and Sanicharia at the time the charge was instituted.
”The DPP therefore needs to ascertain why the accused were discharged and take appropriate action”, the release said.
The Magistrate made the ruling at the end of a preliminary inquiry into the murder charge against Anil Sanchara and Vinod Gopaul.
Thirty four year -old Anil Sancharra, called “Dan pole” and “Rasta,” of D’ Edward Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB); and 30-year-old Vinod Gopaul, called “Magga,” of Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice had been accused of murdering Isiah Henry between September 5, 2020, and September 6, 2020, at Cotton Tree Backdam, WCB.
At the end of the PI held remotely and in his ruling Hugh said:” The Police have failed to provide any admissible evidence that these two men did indeed kill Isaiah Henry as such the charge against them is discharged.
Gopaul and Sanchara have one other murder charge against them: that of the murder of Joel Henry.
Magistrate Peter Hugh set August 10th next for the beginning of a preliminary inquiry into that charge for the murder of Joel Henry against the duo. .
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The badly mutilated bodies of Isaiah Henry, 16, and Joel Henry, 19 both of Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB)were found dumped in a clump of bushes in the backlands of Cotton Tree Village on Sunday afternoon September 6th 2020 after they failed to return home from a trip into the forested area the day before.
Both bodies bore several ‘chop wounds’. Isaiah had the letter ‘X’ carved on the back of his head and forehead, while Joel’s chest was cut open, exposing his organs.
The horrific manner in which the teenagers were killed sparked outrage in the villages and many residents took their protest to the main roadway collecting debris and setting them alight.
Calm was only restored after spirited responses by the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force
The killings led to a visit to Guyana by a Forensic expert from Argentina but he was allowed to leave without completing a full fledged forensic investigation.
Meanwhile 20-year-old Akash Singh, called “Monkey,” of Zeelugt Squatting Area, East Bank Essequibo (EBE); who is facing two separate charge of murdering the two boys has had difficulty in getting a Lawyer rto represent him and the Magistrate in giving him a chance to get legal counsel postponed hear in of the charges until July 13th next.
Attorney Nigel Hughes and the Guyana Human Rights Association only on Sunday criticised the poor quality of the investigation conducted in the case. The accused men had also professed their innocence.
The Henry family has maintained that the men who were charged were not the real killers. They said said close to a year after the murders the mastermind and other accomplices in the murders are still at large.
Sancharra, Gopaul and another were charged for the murders of the No. 3 Village teens – Isaiah and Joel Henry – in January, 2021, approximately four months after their mutilated bodies were discovered at the Cotton Tree Backdam, West Coast Berbice (WCB).
Relatives of the dead teens had said they find it difficult to believe that those three “junkies” would carry out such gruesome murders over the poisoning of a marijuana field, then move the bodies from Bath Settlement to Cotton Tree Backdam.
The autopsies revealed that Joel, who was 18-years-old at the time, had received 18 wounds across his body, seven to eight chops to the head, and defensive wounds in both palms from a sharp object. It was concluded from those injuries, he fell to the ground, and then received a chop to his back that severed his spine. That chop was 14 inches x 3 and 6 inches deep. There was also evidence that he bit his tongue, and his throat was slit.
His 16-year-old cousin, Isaiah, was also tortured. The teen’s spine was also severed and his wound was 14 inches long, 4 inches wide and 6 inches deep. Isaiah received several chops to his head, and his throat too was slit, almost to sever his head from his neck.
